Hurricane Delta
By: Megha Chaudhari and Maanyav Gangaraj
This hurricane season was one of the worst in U.S history, with multiple breaking records and others setting new ones. Hurricane Delta was one of these record breaking natural disasters––the fourth one to hit Louisiana in the same year. This hurricane season has been very active in comparison to other seasons, evidently by the numerous hurricanes that hit. Louisiana was in the midst of recovering from Hurricane Laura, the worst hurricane to hit the state of all time, in August 2020, when Hurricane Delta hit in early October.
Hurricane Delta started its path to the United States as a tropical depression, a low pressure system originating in the tropics that had a maximum speed of 38 miles per hour, from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. According to CNN, Delta became a Category 4 hurricane in merely 30 hours, with winds around 110 mph. It was the quickest increase in wind speed this hurricane season, and the largest jump since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The storm was also the second largest this year in the Atlantic Basin, as wind speeds reached maximum speeds of 145 miles per hour. Speaking of winds, much of the unsecured debris from the aftermath of Hurricane Laura went up into the air and made much of the damage worse. The tarps that many people used to secure it weren’t able to manage against the hurricane’s high-speed winds. Lake Charles was one of the main victims of this whole catastrophe. The lake flooded and many buildings in its vicinity were destroyed. Rooftops were demolished and some buildings were unsalvageable.
Delta made landfall with about 11 million people in its path. It got so bad that the police chief in Jennings, Louisiana (where the eye of the storm was predicted to fall) asked residents to call 911 and leave their names before they evacuated the area. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, many are still left without electricity and recovery is predicted to last for weeks (as of October 11, 2020). However, Louisiana is remaining in Phase 3 of their COVID-19 action plan, where individuals in the high-risk category are instructed to stay at home UNLESS they are essential workers, to prevent any further spread of the virus during the hurricane and its aftermath.
With the damage done by Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Laura, and the COVID-19 pandemic, many Southern states and Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula are scarred. We can only wait and see how they will recover from these calamities.
Hurricane Delta started its path to the United States as a tropical depression, a low pressure system originating in the tropics that had a maximum speed of 38 miles per hour, from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. According to CNN, Delta became a Category 4 hurricane in merely 30 hours, with winds around 110 mph. It was the quickest increase in wind speed this hurricane season, and the largest jump since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The storm was also the second largest this year in the Atlantic Basin, as wind speeds reached maximum speeds of 145 miles per hour. Speaking of winds, much of the unsecured debris from the aftermath of Hurricane Laura went up into the air and made much of the damage worse. The tarps that many people used to secure it weren’t able to manage against the hurricane’s high-speed winds. Lake Charles was one of the main victims of this whole catastrophe. The lake flooded and many buildings in its vicinity were destroyed. Rooftops were demolished and some buildings were unsalvageable.
Delta made landfall with about 11 million people in its path. It got so bad that the police chief in Jennings, Louisiana (where the eye of the storm was predicted to fall) asked residents to call 911 and leave their names before they evacuated the area. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, many are still left without electricity and recovery is predicted to last for weeks (as of October 11, 2020). However, Louisiana is remaining in Phase 3 of their COVID-19 action plan, where individuals in the high-risk category are instructed to stay at home UNLESS they are essential workers, to prevent any further spread of the virus during the hurricane and its aftermath.
With the damage done by Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Laura, and the COVID-19 pandemic, many Southern states and Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula are scarred. We can only wait and see how they will recover from these calamities.