As 2020 has not already been detrimental enough, this year’s Atlantic Hurricane Season has begun earlier than usual and is coming with full force.
“This definitely is unusual,” Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) meteorologist Kelly Richardson said. “We are barely into the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, and we are already on our third named storm.”
Currently, Tropical Storm Cristobal is hovering around the Yucatan Peninsula and is forecasted to make landfall along the Louisiana coast this weekend.
“We’ll begin to see it move north later today in the Gulf of Mexico,” Richardson explained. “We’re still on track to see a landfall along the Louisiana coast late Sunday, early Monday as a tropical storm.”
The Mississippi Gulf Coast should expect up to ten inches of rain and heavy winds.
“The main concern along the Mississippi coast continues to be that coastal flooding and some heavy rain,” Richardson continued. “I’m thinking that top winds as it makes landfall by the end of the weekend could be anywhere from 50 to 60 mile per hour.”
Richardson does not think it will be necessary for shelters to be open along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, however, that is a decision local officials are responsible to make.
“Hunker down, have your emergency supply kit just in case the worst happens, but I think everyone along the coast will be able to handle this one.”
