NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the U.S. brought by Nate (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Nate is moving inland with heavy rains and gusty winds after socking the central Gulf Coast. Forecasters said Sunday that
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the U.S. brought by Nate (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Nate is moving inland with heavy rains and gusty winds after socking the central Gulf Coast.
Forecasters said Sunday that Nate was about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Nashville, Tennessee. Nate was a hurricane when it washed ashore earlier Sunday along the Mississippi coast.
At 4 p.m. CDT Sunday, Nate was a tropical depression with winds of about 35 mph (56 kph). The depression is dropping rain across Florida and Georgia and into the southern Appalachian Mountains. It will drop more rain on the Ohio Valley and continue into the Northeast before exiting Maine on Tuesday.
Forecasters are calling for 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain in those areas.
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1:30 p.m.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Sunday the federal government has issued an emergency declaration for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in the Panhandle following Hurricane Nate. A similar declaration was issued for the state of Alabama.
Scott said that will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide any needed disaster assistance in the two counties, although there are no reports of major damage or deaths in the area.
As of midday about 6,800 electric customers were without power in Florida, the governor said.
Nate was a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore outside Biloxi, Mississippi, early Sunday, its second landfall after initially hitting southeastern Louisiana on Saturday evening. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression by midday Sunday.
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12:30 p.m.
Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos have been given the all-clear to reopen while the region recovers from Hurricane Nate.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission said on its website that coastal casinos were allowed to re-open as of 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
Closures were ordered Saturday as Nate approached.
The storm hit the coast with surges of up to 10 feet, and some casinos reported ground level flooding.
Nate was a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore outside Biloxi early Sunday. By midday Sunday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami had downgraded Nate to a tropical depression.
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12:30 p.m.
Officials are assessing storm damage to the manmade beach that lines much of Mississippi’s coast.
Harrison County Emergency Management Director Rupert Lacy said the process of cleaning sand and debris from beachfront U.S. 90 will take at least until Monday.
Officials say a storm surge of up to 10 feet was received near the Alabama state line.
Damage to about 25 structures has been reported so far in Mississippi, and electricity was slowly being restored.
The total number of customer without power fell to about 32,000 at 11 a.m. Sunday, from nearly 50,000 at the height of the storm.
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11 a.m.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the hurricanes that have struck the U.S. and its territories this year – four so far – have “strained” resources.
FEMA Administrator Brock Long told ABC’s “This Week” that some 85 percent of the agency’s forces were deployed and still working on issues created by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and now Nate.
He said that “in regards to resources, of course we’re strained” because “nearly 85 percent of my entire agency is deployed right now. We’re still working massive issues in Harvey, Irma, as well as the issues in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and now this one.”
Nate struck the U.S. as a Category 1 storm on Saturday but has since weakened substantially. The National Hurricane Center in Miami downgraded the storm to “tropical depression” strength and discontinued all hurricane and storm surge warnings and watches for the Gulf Coast.
Winds gusts of tropical storm force were expected over the Florida Panhandle and portions of Alabama and Georgia on Sunday, the hurricane center said. Water levels remained elevated along portions of the northern Gulf Coast, but were expected to gradually subside by midday Sunday.
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7 a.m.
Tropical Storm Nate is dumping heavy amounts of rain as it weakens and moves northward and away from the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Nate’s maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts. The storm is expected to continue to rapidly weaken as it moves farther inland across the Deep South, Tennessee Valley and central Appalachian mountains. Through Monday, those areas can expect at least 3 to 6 inches of rain.
The hurricane center discontinued its storm surge warning for the area west of the Mississippi-Alabama border. A tropical storm warning was discontinued for the area west of the Alabama-Florida border.
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6:15 a.m.
More than 100,000 residents in Mississippi and Alabama are without power following the arrival of Nate.
Alabama Power Co. said about 59,000 customers lost their electricity in the state. About 53,000 of those were in the Mobile area.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said Mississippi Power and the state’s electric power associations reported a total of about 48,000 customers without power early Sunday.
Nate made landfall in Mississippi early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane and later weakened to a tropical storm.
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5:50 a.m.
A storm surge from Hurricane Nate pushed over the beachfront highway of U.S. 90 in Biloxi, flooding the parking structure of the Golden Nugget casino.
Water kept going several blocks deep into the area.
Pascagoula also reported that storm surge flooded downtown streets in that coastal city.
Thousands were without power in southern Mississippi.
Nate made landfall in Mississippi early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane and later weakened to a tropical storm. The storm marks the first time a hurricane has made landfall in Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
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5:50 a.m.
Nate’s rising water has flooded homes and cars on Alabama’s coast and inundated at least one major thoroughfare in downtown Mobile.
Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier says he woke up around 3 a.m. Sunday to discover knee-deep water in his yard. Although some homes and cars on the island have flooded, Collier said he hadn’t heard of any reports of residents needing to be rescued from the floodwaters. Collier also says the water levels appeared to be falling as dawn approached.
Storm surge also flooded Water Street in downtown Mobile and a ground-level causeway across Mobile Bay. Alabama Department of Transportation traffic cameras show water still standing on both those routes before dawn Sunday.
Gregory Robinson, a spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, said there were no immediate reports of storm-related deaths.
Various Alabama utilities report more than 59,000 customers are without electricity.
Nate made landfall in Mississippi early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane and later weakened to a tropical storm.
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3:55 a.m.
Nate has weakened to a tropical storm as it moves inland over Mississippi and Alabama.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds decreased Sunday morning to near 70 mph (110 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to continue quickly weakening.
Earlier Sunday, Nate came ashore outside Biloxi, Mississippi, as a hurricane, the first the make a direct hit on the state since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Nate has brought stinging rain to the Gulf Coast and its powerful winds have pushed water onto roads. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
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1 a.m.
Hurricane Nate came ashore along Mississippi’s coast outside Biloxi, the first hurricane to make landfall in the state since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm had maximum sustained winds early Sunday near 85 mph (140 kph) with weakening expected as it moves inland. It was centered about 5 miles (10 kilometers) north of Biloxi and moving north near at 20 mph (31 kph).
It was Nate’s second landfall. Saturday night, the storm came ashore along a sparsely populated area in southeast Louisiana.
Nate brought stinging rain to the Gulf Coast and its powerful winds pushed water onto roads. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
