Zeta Leaves Trail of Wreckage, Blackouts Across U.S. South
- Storm tore through New Orleans at a brisk 31 miles an hour
- Louisiana pummeled multiple times in unrelenting storm season
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Tropical Storm Zeta is spinning across the U.S. South after walloping New Orleans, blacking out 1.9 million homes and businesses and leaving a trail of wreckage from Louisiana to North Carolina.
Zeta made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, with winds of 110 miles (177 kilometers) per hour, before weakening to 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It’s the fifth hurricane or tropical storm to hit the state this year. There’s never been so many major storms hitting Louisiana or the contiguous U.S. in a single season, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher with Colorado State University.