The Category 1 hurricane is expected to hit Louisiana Wednesday evening.
Zeta, a fast-moving Category 1 hurricane racing toward the Gulf Coast, is expected to make landfall in eastern Louisiana between 5 p.m. and 7 pm. local time.
“You should be finalizing your preparations,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday morning.
The biggest threat will be storm surge of up to 7 feet in Louisiana and up to 9 feet in Alabama and Mississippi.
Wind gusts are expected to reach 75 to 100 mph in New Orleans. The city canceled all public school classes for the day.
New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is suspending all bus, streetcar and ferry services beginning at noon.
Louisiana has been especially hard-hit this hurricane season. Zeta will become the third hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana in two months.
After Wednesday, Zeta’s remnants will move into the Northeast bringing rain and snow. The first accumulating, widespread snowfall of the season is possible for Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York’s Hudson Valley.