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Hurricane Laura hits southwestern Louisiana amid warning of 'potentially catastrophic impacts'
Hurricane Laura has made landfall in the US as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, forecasters have said amid warnings it could cause an "unsurvivable" surge in parts of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Hurricane Centre said the storm made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, and had maximum sustained winds of 150mph, making it the most powerful hurricane to strike the United States so far this year.
"Potentially catastrophic impacts will continue," the agency said in a post on Twitter.
Laura's power has raised fears of a 20ft storm surge that forecasters said would be “unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities on the Texas and Louisiana coast.
At 1 am CDT, Hurricane #Laura has made landfall in southwestern Louisiana near Cameron as a category 4 #hurricane. Maximum sustained winds were 150 mph, with a minimum central pressure of 938 mb. Potentially catastrophic impacts will continue. More: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/GVWRnmGejy
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic)
A Category 4 hurricane can cause damage so catastrophic that power outages may last for months in places, and wide areas could be uninhabitable for weeks or months.
The threat of such devastation poses a new disaster-relief challenge for a federal government already straining to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities have implored hundreds of thousands of coastal residents of Texas and Louisiana to flee, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott urging families who could afford it to take temporary refuge in hotels and motels.
“Heed the advice of your local authorities. If they tell you to go, go! Your life depends on it today,” said Joel Cline, tropical programme coordinator at the National Weather Service. “It’s a serious day and you need to listen to them.”
On Twitter, President Donald Trump also urged coastal residents to heed local officials.
"Hurricane Laura is a very dangerous and rapidly intensifying hurricane," he said.
"My Administration remains fully engaged with state & local emergency managers to continue preparing and assisting the great people Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Listen to local officials. We are with you!"
Hurricane Laura is a very dangerous and rapidly intensifying hurricane. My Administration remains fully engaged with state & local emergency managers to continue preparing and assisting the great people Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Listen to local officials. We are with you! pic.twitter.com/x0JoijLUpb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Hurricane warnings have been issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, and reach inland for 200 miles.
Storm surge warnings are also in effect from Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
A National Weather Service meteorologist in Lake Charles, Louisiana - in the bullseye of Laura’s projected path - took to Facebook Live to deliver an urgent warning for people living south of Interstate 10 in south-west Louisiana and south-east Texas.
“Your life will be in immediate and grave danger beginning this evening if you do not evacuate,” Donald Jones said.
Laura is expected to dump massive rainfall as it moves inland, causing widespread flash flooding in states far from the coast.
Flood watches were issued for much of Arkansas, and forecasters said heavy rainfall could arrive by Friday in parts of Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Laura is so powerful that it is expected to become a tropical storm again once it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, potentially menacing the north east.
Hurricane Katrina - which killed more than 1,800 people as it tore through New Orleans in 2005 - was a category five storm before weakening to a category three when it made landfall in the US.
