Hurricane season kicks off in the US as first tropical storm hit the Gulf Coast
A weekend that was supposed to be filled with celebrations of Juneteenth and Father’s Day has turned dreary in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, where Tropical Storm Claudette has brought wind, heavy rain and flooding to a region where some have sandbags still left over from last year’s record-breaking hurricane season.
With virus restrictions loosened and summer near, business owners across the Gulf Coast — everyone from restaurateurs to swamp boat operators — had been anticipating an influx of tourist cash after a year of lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic and relentless storms. But those hopes have been dimmed by the storm.
The storm was expected to dump anywhere from 13 centimetres to 25 centimetres of rain along parts of the Gulf Coast — even 38 centimetres in isolated areas, according to forecasters at the hurricane centre.Flooding had already begun overnight Friday into Saturday, with local reports of high water over roads and stranded vehicles. Flash flood warnings dotted the coast while flood watches were in effect well inland for parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and central and northern Georgia.
That included Tropical Storm Cristobal that opened the season last June, hurricanes Laura and Delta that devastated southwest Louisiana, and Hurricane Zeta that downed trees and knocked out power for days in New Orleans in October. Disappointment was evident in the voice of Seneca Hampton, an organiser of the Juneteenth Freedom Festival in Gautier, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Gautier event was postponed until next month. A Juneteenth event in Selma, Alabama, was postponed until August.
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