Hurricane (Typhoon) — Orleans, Louisiana

2020-10-28 · Orleans, Louisiana

Event narrative

Zeta produced widespread damage due to high winds. A Weatherflow station near the border of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes on

Bayou Bienvenue recorded a maximum sustained wind of 87 mph with peak gust of 112 mph, though it should be noted that at 27.4m. The station is elevated higher than the standard observation height of 10m. Trees, power lines and power poles were snapped throughout the parish with the parish responding to around 550 tree emergencies. 40 city facilities suffered minor structural damage in addition to 400 residential and commercial buildings. 10 buildings sustained major damage. 1 indirect fatality occurred due to electrocution and one injury due to falling debris from a roof collapse.

Wider weather episode

A tropical depression formed in the northwestern Caribbean on the afternoon of October 24th. 9 hours later, it became the twenty-seventh named storm and eleventh hurricane of the exceptionally active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. After meandering virtually in the same place, it finally began moving northwest and slowly strengthening before making its first landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula on October 26th. Zeta exited the Yucantan Peninsula weaker but still a strong tropical storm. The path of the storm began shifting from northwest to northeast, and heading straight towards Louisiana. In terms of intensity, Zeta slowly but steadily strengthened from this point all the way up until landfall. It reached the highest wind speed possible of a Category 2 storm, 110 mph. Zeta produced extensive wind damage across southeast Louisiana with measured sustained winds up to 87 mph and gusts up to 110 mph. Thousands of power poles were downed and thousands of homes experienced minor damage. Storm surge ranged from a few feet to several feet. There were a total of 1 fatality and 1 injury. Hurricane Zeta caused approximately $1 billion worth of damage.

Zeta was the record-tying sixth hurricane to make landfall in the United States and the record fifth named storm to strike Louisiana in 2020.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 925293. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.