National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Nate now ‘expected’ to be Category 2 upon landfall

The original story:

Hurricane Nate is now “expected” to be a Category 2 storm when it makes landfall over the U.S. Gulf Coast in the late evening Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The update comes after days of cautious forecasts which predicted the storm would likely be a Category 1 hurricane when it hit somewhere between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle.

Though not yet a “major” hurricane according to the standards set by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 2 storm is capable “extremely dangerous winds” at 96 to 110 mph that “will cause extensive damage.”

As of Saturday afternoon, the storm was still a Category 1 hurricane with 90 mph winds, located about 100 miles south of the Mississippi River and moving at 25 mph north-north west.

States of emergency have been declared in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

President Trump has approved an emergency declaration for Louisiana, unlocking federal resources. Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has named William Doran III as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas, the White House said in a statement Saturday morning.

Trump also tweeted that the “great team” at FEMA is “prepared” for the storm.

Hurricane Nate brings the threat of heavy rainfall, flash flooding, “life-threatening” storm surge, surf and rip current conditions, strong gusts of wind, and even isolated tornadoes. Up to seven to 11 feet of storm surge could happen between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Alabama-Mississippi border coasts, according to the NHC.

The storm has been tied to at least 25 deaths in Central America so far.