Hurricane Nate made a landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 1 hurricane hit at 8 p.m. on Saturday. A second landfall is expected on the coast of Mississippi, and then passage through parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Through winds as quick as 85 mph and rainfall as much as six inches, officials in Louisiana, and other states, have either urged residents to prepare and remain inside, or to evacuate the area.

Even though a Category 1 hurricane is the least destructive according to the Saffir-Simpson scale, Nate has the potential to intensify into a Category 2 hurricane. It has reached winds of up to 85 mph, but certain areas, such as Biloxi, MI, can experience wind speeds of 100 mph. Rain has already soaked coastal Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi much of Saturday, while rainfall of three to six inches, and even ten inches in some areas, is expected along the path of the hurricane.

The greatest concern are the storm surges, which is the rising of the sea due to hurricane activity. Nate is expected to create storm surges of up to 11 feet, which puts the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama at grave danger of being flooded. This has prompted several state officials to make voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders, calling for residents to relocate to designated shelters.

Nate is the third hurricane in six weeks to hit the United States mainland, following right after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. These prior storms were Category 4 and Category 5 respectively, generating winds of over 130 mph. As the United States is trying to recover from the hundreds of fatalities and injuries, thousands of destroyed properties, and damages that surpasses $130 billion, the Gulf Coast is once again impacted by another cyclone.

Many scientists attribute the severity of these series of storms to the effects of global warming, especially rising sea levels and warmer oceans. Hurricanes form over warm bodies of water, and become more powerful as long as they have a source of warm moisture. Rising sea levels have made storm surges more devastating. The overall human impact on the environment has destabilized climate in general, leading to natural disasters occurring in new patterns.

Hurricane Nate is expected to die out Tuesday afternoon, hopefully ending the series of cyclones that have hit United States mainland these past six weeks.