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3 deaths linked to Hurricane Delta or aftermath in Louisiana, Florida

Two of the deaths in Louisiana were verified as hurricane-related. A tourist in Florida also drowned as the storm's outer bands affected the area.
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Three people have died in Hurricane Delta or in its aftermath in Louisiana and Florida, officials said days after it made landfall as a Category 2 storm.

The Louisiana Health Department said Sunday that two deaths that involved fires in St. Martin and Iberia parishes were tied to the hurricane, which roared ashore near Creole on Friday evening.

In the Florida Panhandle, a 19-year-old tourist from Illinois died Saturday after being caught in a rip current in the Gulf of Mexico near Destin, the Okaloosa County sheriff's office said. The Gulf had been closed to swimming because of the effects of outer rain bands from the storm.

In Louisiana, an 86-year-old man in St. Martin Parish died after a shed caught fire while he refueled a generator, the state Health Department said in a statement. In Iberia Parish, a 70-year-old woman died in a fire that was likely to have been caused by a natural gas leak, according to the Health Department.

Coroners determined that both deaths were storm-related.

Image: Hurricane Delta
An aerial view of floodwaters from Hurricane Delta surrounding structures destroyed by Hurricane Laura in Creole, La., on Saturday.Mario Tama / Getty Images

The hurricane, which had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph when it made landfall, knocked out power to around 688,000 customers in Louisiana, the governor has said.

By Monday evening, about 151,000 customers without power, according to the Louisiana Public Service Commission website.

Louisiana was hit by Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall, in late August. That storm also made landfall in southwest Louisiana.

There have been 30 deaths in Louisiana related to Hurricane Laura, according to the state Health Department's website. Several involved carbon monoxide poisoning from generators or heat-related illnesses.

Five deaths related to Hurricane Laura were reported in Texas.