Nate has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said late Friday night.
The hurricane has sustained winds of 75 mph and is located 495 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
States from Louisiana to Florida were bracing Friday for Nate, forecast to pound the Gulf Coast this weekend.
A hurricane warning extends from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain and Grand Island, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida border.
The storm is expected to make landfall by Sunday east of New Orleans, which was devastated 12 years ago by
Hurricane Katrina. It would be the third hurricane,
after Harvey and Irma, to hit the US mainland
in six weeks.
Nate killed at least 24 people as it passed Thursday over Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, where it caused widespread flash flooding and mudslides, officials said.
The storm was forecast to gain strength as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico Friday night into Saturday and become a hurricane by the time it reaches the northern Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said.
New Orleans gearing up
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu ordered a mandatory evacuation of the Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou areas of the city after having already declared a state of emergency Thursday.
"We remain focused on vulnerabilities in Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou because these areas are outside of the levee system, and because one of the greatest threats to this storm is not necessarily interior rain, but storm surge. It is a serious concern to us," Landrieu said Friday. "The projections are that we could see six to nine feet of surge."
He said residents must evacuate by 12 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) Saturday, when the nearby flood gates will be closed. The New Orleans Fire Department and Neighborhood Engagement Office will be conducting outreach through Saturday to coordinate the evacuation effort, he added.
With the majority of the storm's impact and storm surge expected to occur overnight, Landrieu also announced a mandatory curfew will take effect Saturday at 6 p.m. and end Sunday morning. In preparation for overnight flooding, he said the city's police department will put up barricades and close underpasses once the curfew is in effect.
"If we all stay informed, if we all stay alert, if we all stay prepared, ultimately, we will all be safe, which is our No. 1 priority," Landrieu said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards
declared a state of emergency for all of Louisiana. The storm will "make landfall in the close vicinity of New Orleans," the proclamation noted, adding that six parishes have declared emergencies and others would do so soon.
New Orleans, much of which lies below sea level, was gearing up for a hit, and Landrieu urged people who live "outside the city's levee protection system or in low-lying area" to seek higher ground.
Residents have been wary since the city's unique drainage system experienced critical deficiencies during heavy summer rainstorms, leading to the
flooding of several hundred properties.
Of the city's 120 main drainage pumps, three major and nine smaller ones were offline Thursday night,
city records show. Also, all 24 major pump stations had backup generators, records show, as only three of five turbines that help power the city's oldest, most powerful pumps were available for service, a city water utility spokeswoman told CNN.
"Residents who live inside the levee system should prepare to take shelter with essential supplies including food, water and medications,"
the mayor said Thursday.
Edwards
authorized 1,300 National Guard troops to mobilize ahead of the storm, with some headed to New Orleans to help monitor the pumps, he said.
