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Video: Hurricane Zeta Roars Through Louisiana

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Downed powerlines after the passage of Zeta (City of Kenner)

Published Oct 28, 2020 9:45 PM by The Maritime Executive

On Wednesday evening, Hurricane Zeta made landfall in the Mississippi River Delta as a Category 2 storm, passing west of Port Fourchon on its way to New Orleans. 

The storm arrived with sustained winds of 110 miles per hour in the fishing town of Cocodrie, then moved on a northeasterly course towards Louisiana's best-known city. Wind damage and downed powerlines have been reported across the region, and an estimated 500,000 people are without power statewide. New Orleans emergency medical service providers have reported one fatality due to high voltage electrical shock.

By 2000 hours local time, the fast-moving storm's center had moved on into Southern Mississippi. 

In anticipation of the storm's arrival, the Captain of the Port for Sector New Orleans shut down virtually all vessel movement within the port at 0200 hours on Wednesday. The closure covers segments of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and Lower Mississippi in the vicinity of New Orleans, along with the lower 45 miles of the Atchafalaya River. 

As of Wednesday, about one third of all oil and gas production platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut in and evacuated due to the storm, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The platforms closed down account for about two thirds of U.S. GoM oil production and about half of U.S. GoM gas production. In addition, three stationary rigs were evacuated and six DP rigs were moved off station as a precautionary measure.