Hurricane zeta makes landfall in Louisiana.

Rains and winds battered the New Orleans

Rains and winds battered the New Orleans metro area, a region already hit by multiple storms this year.

Hurricane Zeta is pummeling southeastern Lousiana and Mississippi with high winds, heavy rain and a life-threatening storm surge, according to the National Hurricane Centre. The eye of the storm passed over New Orleans at roughly 7.30pm on Wednesday, threatening to push up to 9 feet of sea water inland and batter homes and businesses with strong winds in a Gulf Coast region already pounded by multiple storms this year.

According to tweet by New Orleans government, Winds were beginning to pick back up after the eye’s passing. Several roads were flooded near the coast, where Zeta was making landfall forecasters said, around Terrebone Bay near Cocodrie, an unincorporated fishing village at the end of a highway.

According to a weather station in Golden Meadow reported a wind gust of 110 mph, while the New Orleans Lakefront Airport has seen winds gusting more than 50 mph. A break in the clouds is seen above New Orleans superdome as the eye of the storm passed over the city on Wednesday. Rain showered the French Quarter in New Orleans, and streams of water were running off roofs. Trees plunged back and forth in the wind, though a few people were still out on Bourbon Street with umbrellas or in slow-moving cars. The iconic streetcars were idled and city hall closed, LaToya Cantrell, Mayor said.

Emergency medical services responded to a high voltage electrocution fatality related to downed power line in New Orleans, according to a tweet from New Orleans EMS. The authorities is tracking many downed power lines, trees and other debris in roadways, said the city’s office of emergency preparedness.

A hurricane warning is in effect for an area that includes nearly 5 million people, but a much larger part of the Southeast will feel the effects of the storm over the next 24 to 36 hours. A tropical storm warning extends inland more than 600 miles and covers parts of eight states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennesse. Also including inland cities such as Atlanta, Birmingham and Montgomery in Alabama and Asheville.