Hurricane Nate makes landfall near Mississippi River in southeast Louisiana as Category 1 storm

The strength of the storm caught some forecasters by surprise as just hours earlier the NHC said it “expected” Hurricane Nate to be a Category 2 hurricane when it made landfall. But in fact the storm weakened slightly in the final hours as its maximum sustained winds dropped from 90 mph to 85 mph.

“Nate is now moving toward the north and a little slower, near 20 mph,” the NHC statement said. “A turn toward the north-northeast is expected later tonight, followed by a motion toward the northeast on Sunday. On the forecast track, the center of Nate will make a second landfall along the coast of Mississippi tonight. After landfall, the center of Nate is expected to pass over portions of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee late tonight through Sunday night.”

The effects are being felt across the Gulf Coast, with warning and advisories being issued from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle.

The outer rain bands of Hurricane Nate reached the southeast coast of Louisiana Saturday afternoon as the storm had been strengthening over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Photos and video posted to social media showed the first storm clouds rolling in and the National Weather Service confirmed at least one waterspout off the coast of Alabama.

States of emergency had been declared in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and President Trump approved emergency declarations for Louisiana and Mississippi as requested by the states’ governors, unlocking federal resources.

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

Meanwhile the Pentagon announced that two ships, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS New York, are being deployed from Mayport, Fla., with embarked elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Gulf of Mexico behind the hurricane to support FEMA where needed.

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.

Rainfall in some areas east of the Mississippi River could be 3 to 6 inches, with a maximum of 10 inches in some places. Meanwhile, across the Ohio Valley and into the central Appalachians 2 to 5 inches is expected with maximum of 7 inches.

Days ahead of the storm, concerns were raised about the city of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared a state of emergency on Thursday and some evacuations followed on Friday. The main concern appeared to be related to the possibility of flooding as parts of the city’s drainage system were not in full working order as the storm approached.

However, right after Hurricane Nate made landfall Landrieu spoke over the phone on CNN and said one “good thing” about the storm was how fast it is moving, meaning less chance of it dumping more rain on any one particular area.

“That is an exceedingly fast storm. So that’s one that hits you hard, and then it moves past you,” he said mentioning that Nate was moving at 22 mph. The latest advisory from the NHC put that number at 20 mph.

Landrieu added that his city was really well prepared for the storm, which has been tied to at least 25 deaths in Central America so far.

The storm is moving so fast that in fact the remnants of the hurricane are expected to veer east and reach Pennsylvania by Monday.

Two U.S. territories, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which ran through the Caribbean last month. Some Puerto Ricans are still struggling to gain access to food, water, and gas, and power may not be returned to some parts of the island for months. President Trump visited Puerto Rico to meet with local officials and people impacted by the storm on Tuesday. Officials raised the death toll tied to Maria to 34 on Tuesday.

Several meteorologists have noted that this hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30, has been considerably active compared to most.

With Hurricane Nate making landfall over the U.S., it become the fourth hurricane to do so in 2017 — the first time this has happened since 2005. The hurricane season still has a way to go. It ends on Nov. 30.