Having left 11 confirmed deaths in Costa Rica, many still disappeared and cut off from aid, thousands in shelters, and dozens of roads and schools destroyed, Nate, now a Category 1 Hurricane, touched down last night on the Mississippi-Louisiana border in the southern U.S.

At least 32 are reported dead throughout Central America in what is now the 9th hurricane of the relentless 2017 Atlantic hurricane season to rip through the Caribbean region.

Hurricane Nate landed at the mouth of the Mississippi River late Saturday with winds of 140 km per hour, moving northwards at 31 km per hour, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“On the predicted trajectory, Nate’s center will land for the second time along the Mississippi coast tonight. After touching land, Nate’s eye is expected to pass through parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee from Saturday night and until Sunday night,” added the NHC.

If it stay on its projected course, it will avoid New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

However, all cities stretching from Texas to Florida along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, including New Orleans, are on alert for heavy rains and other effects from the hurricane’s trail.

According to reports from U.S. media, New Orleans issued a curfew at 6:00 p.m. local time last night, and evacuation orders were also issued for some areas below sea level.

“Our worst threat is not necessarily rain, but strong winds and waves,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Nate’s passage along Central America’s Caribbean coast, which also intensified weather systems along the isthmus’ Pacific coast, left a deadly wake with 16 people dead in Nicaragua, 11 in Costa Rica, three in Honduras, and two in El Salvador.

Several rural mountain communities in Costa Rica, including the south-central Cerro de la Muerte and southern Pacific region, as well as many in neighboring Nicaragua, are isolated due to road and bridge washouts, overflowing rivers, and mudslides that razed houses.

The damage to agriculture in Costa Rica has not yet been quantified, but is expected to be significant, notably to rice and vegetable crops.

 

Nate is the latest in a series of deadly storms that hit the Caribbean in this heavy Atlantic hurricane season (June through November).

The southeastern United States was slammed in August by Harvey, which left more than 70 dead and caused considerable material damage, and Irma, which destroyed many parts of the eastern Caribbean, and caused 12 deaths in Florida.

Shortly after came Hurricane Maria, devastating the Caribbean in late September, including Dominica, and Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

Meanwhile, Mexico experienced indirect effects of Nate causing suspension of classes and a halt to water-based tourist activities in the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located.