07 October, 2017
NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES East satellite provided imagery of Tropical Storm Nate affecting Nicaragua and extending into the Caribbean Sea.
The World Cup qualification match set for Friday between Costa Rica and Honduras has been postponed because of heavy rains and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Nate. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana to the Mississippi/Alabama border, metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas and in Mexico from Punta Herrero to Rio Lagartos. 40,000 people are said to be running without water in the country, while thousands were forced to relocate at shelters.
Hurricane hunter planes have found Tropical Storm Nate growing stronger just off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
Nate, which now has 50 mile (85 kilometre) per hour winds, is forecast to reach hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall in the United States today, on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
By late today, those fearsome winds could drive a "life-threatening storm surge" onto southern U.S. states.
Three other people were killed in Honduras. At the moment, no major impact is expected for the state of Texas.
Authorities in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador declared a maximum or red alert.
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is now offline as energy companies brace for the second major storm in as many months to hit the region. Even though Nate is centred in the Caribbean, it is so large that it is pulling in moisture from the Pacific across Central America into the Caribbean.
"We have confirmation that at least two people have died and several who are missing are being sought by emergency teams", Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis told reporters.
This year, some areas in Central America have gotten up to 50 per cent more rain than average for September and October.
Belize issued a public warning over Tropical Storm Nate, urging "preparations to protect life and property" and for people in flood-prone areas to move to higher ground.
