Zeta now a hurricane; Morgan City included in tropical storm warning

Zeta has become a hurricane, and a tropical storm watch has been issued for part of Louisiana, including Morgan City, according to the National Weather Service’s 4 p.m. update.
The tropical storm watch for Zeta extends from Intracoastal City to Morgan City. The impacts from the storm in St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes are anticipated to be tropical storm force winds and 2 to 4 inches of rain, Andy Patrick of the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office reported.
Storm surge for coastal south central Louisiana could be 2 to 4 feet Wednesday afternoon or evening at high tide.
St. Mary Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness Director David Naquin said the school board will make any decision on potential closures Tuesday.
Meanwhile, St. Mary Parish Levee District Operations Manager Mike Brocato said that for “safety purposes” the Franklin, Yellow Bayou and Hanson canals could be closed
“We’ll just keep an eye on it,” Brocato said of conditions, noting none of these moves would be made before Wednesday.
Zeta, which has strengthened to 80 mph, is expected to reach the Yucatan Peninsula early Monday evening before entering the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday.
By Tuesday night, it will begin its north movement with a northeast turn expected in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
A cold front projected to reach the southwest Louisiana area could help the storm move even more to the northeast, the weather service said Monday morning.
It is expected to make landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 1 hurricane in southeast Louisiana. A hurricane watch is in effect east of Morgan City to the Mississippi/Alabama border.
There is a 20% to 40% chance of tropical storm force winds of 39 mph or greater for the coastal areas of south central Louisiana from Vermilion Bay eastward.
Winds reaching 58 mph are not expected on land, though.
In Iberia, St. Mary, Lower St. Martin and Vermilion parishes, tropical storm force winds are anticipated to begin Wednesday between 9 a.m. to noon and end Thursday between midnight and 3 a.m.
The time ranges for these are “very conservative,” Patrick said.
“The window for this could be quite a bit shorter and really could actually be a much smaller area,” he said.