Hurricane Marco is one of two dangerous weather systems tracking towards the Unite States right now, with Hurricane Laura not far behind. Severe winds and storm surges are already impacting parts of the coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
Marco strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday morning, however was then downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday night.
On Saturday, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency ahead of Laura and Marco’s unwelcome arrival.
Mr Reeves said: “We are in unprecedented times. We are dealing with not only two potential storms in the next few hours, we are also dealing with COVID-19.”
The governor and other state officials have urged residents to prepare ahead of the storms and advised people to find places to evacuate other than public shelters.
Read More: Tropical storms Marco and Laura set to smash US – first dual hurricane
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards requested a Federal Emergency Declaration on Saturday for both weather systems, Marco and Laura.
He said: “This is unlike anything we have seen, with two [storms] expected to impact our state nearly back to back.
“This may mean that people will have to shelter in place for more than 72 hours and that there may not be time to do things like restore lost power between the two storms.”
Heavy rainfall and powerful winds could have significant impacts across the central Gulf Coast this week.
Landfall for Marco is expected along the southeastern coast of Louisiana at some point today.
Accuweather predicts wind gusts of 40 to 60mph will be felt along the Mississippi coast into southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans.
This may caused localised damage to trees, power lines and a few weaker structures.
Higher gusts are likely at the coast near where Marco makes landfall, up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 80 mph.
Heavy rainfall will also spread northeastward into the central and upper Gulf Coast states through Monday.
Up to one to two inches of rain is anticipated from the Florida Panhandle and far southern Alabama across southern Mississippi and most of Louisiana.
However the heaviest rainfall will be around southeastern Louisiana, southern Alabama and into the Florida Panhandle.
From four to eight inches is expected, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 12 inches.
Some of the same areas of Louisiana could also have impacts from Laura just a couple of days later.
Hurricanes Marco and Laura have already torn through the Caribbean, killing at least nine people in Haiti and another three in the Dominican Republic.
Hurricane Laura is forecast to hit Texas by Thursday, by which time the forecast states it will strengthen significantly.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said: “If Laura also takes a track toward the Louisiana coast as forecast, power crews may not even be able to go to some areas after Marco exits.
“As soon as they get there they may have to evacuate again to avoid Laura.”