Several major roads and bridges are closed after Hurricane Zeta slammed the Gulf Coast Wednesday. The closures are due to flooding and debris, including downed trees and power lines.
According to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD), the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway was shut down in both directions as of Thursday morning. This road runs from New Orleans northward across Lake Pontchartrain.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation said Interstate 110, which connects Biloxi to I-10, is closed in both directions.
Several sections of U.S. Highway 90 are closed from Louisiana to southern Mississippi, and many state routes in the region are impassable.
The Coast Guard continues to restrict vessel movement at the ports of Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Plaquemines, South Louisiana, St. Bernard and the Venice Port Complex in Louisiana; Biloxi, Gulfport, Mobile and Pascagoula, Mississippi; as well as Pensacola, Florida. Portions of these ports may be closed.
Zeta made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of around 110 mph. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the continental U.S. this late in the season since 1899. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
Zeta has weakened to a tropical storm and continues to move quickly inland. As of 8 a.m. EDT Thursday, sustained winds had decreased to 60 mph, and the eye of the storm was 50 miles west of Asheville, North Carolina. But the damage is done.
Besides transportation and supply chain issues, millions of people have no electricity from southeastern Louisiana to areas in western Florida and northern Georgia. And sadly, two people are dead because of the hurricane.