Hurricane Laura is beating down closer to the Louisiana-Texas coastline where the Category 3 major hurricane is expected to bring “unsurvivable” storm surge and destructive waves, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. update.
Laura will approach Lone Star and Pelican state coasts Wednesday evening and is forecast to produce dangerous storm surge, extreme winds, and flash flooding. The hurricane center warned that Laura’s storm surge is capable of penetrating 30 miles inland from the Louisiana-Texas coast. The highest surge throughout the area is predicted to be between 15 and 20 feet from the Johnson Bayou, Louisiana to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana.
“Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes,” the NHC said. “The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the right of the landfall location, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves, the NHC said.”
Laura, the fourth hurricane of the season, had maximum sustained winds accelerate to 125 mph, according to the NHC’s 11 a.m. update. Once it exceeds 129 mph it will be classified as a Category 4 major hurricane. As it approaches the coastline its winds are forecast to grow in strength Wednesday to maximum sustained speeds 145 mph with stronger gusts blowing at 175 mph. Rapid weakening should begin once it makes landfall. Laura is moving at 16 mph, and is 225 miles south-southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana and 235 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.
Laura’s hurricane-force winds extend up to 70 miles from its center and its tropical-storm-force winds reach up to 175 miles.
A number of watches and warnings were issued to Gulf Coast communities. First, a storm surge warning is in effect for Freeport, Texas to the Mouth of the Mississippi River. A hurricane warning was issued from San Luis Pass, Texas near Houston to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Sargent, Texas to San Luis Pass as well as East of Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Mouth of the Mississippi River. A storm surge watch was advised from the Mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, as well as Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Lake Borgne. Lastly, a hurricane watch is in effect from East of Intracoastal City to Morgan City, Louisiana.
Laura is not expected to greatly affect Florida, although it could bring rip currents along the Panhandle. Despite Laura not arriving on Florida shores, 40 Central Florida firefighters were activated as part of the Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 4 and set out for Louisiana at 8 a.m. Wednesday from Orlando. The team is led by firefighters from Orlando Fire Department, Orange County Fire Rescue and Seminole County Fire Department, as well as joined with members from Lake County Fire Rescue and Clermont Fire Department.
Task Force IV will be deployed for 15 days, assisting with structural collapse, swift water rescue, wide area search and hazardous materials. The 40 firefighters include firefighters, paramedics, structural engineers, doctors, search and rescue K9s, and other highly-trained specialists. The team will arrive in southwest Louisiana near Lake Charles where the Louisiana State Fire Marshal will assume command.
People of Louisiana prepared for Laura by heading to stores to stock up on food, water and other supplies.
The area’s population still recalls the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when catastrophic flooding breached the levees in New Orleans and as many as 1,800 people died.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who declared a state of emergency Friday, asked President Donald Trump for a federal emergency declaration.
In the largest U.S. evacuation of the pandemic, more than half a million people were ordered Tuesday to flee from an area of the Gulf Coast along the Texas-Louisiana state line, according to The Associated Press. More than 385,000 residents were told to evacuate the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur. Another 200,000 were ordered to leave the low-lying Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in southwestern Louisiana, where forecasters said as much as 13 feet of storm surge topped by waves could submerge whole communities. On top of that, up to 15 inches of rain could fall in some spots in Louisiana, said National Weather Service meteorologist Donald Jones.
Laura also is expected to dump massive rainfall over a short period of time as it moves inland, causing widespread flash flooding in states far from the coast. Flash flood watches were issued for much of Arkansas, and forecasters said heavy rainfall could move to parts of Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky late Friday and Saturday.
In Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas, mandatory evacuation orders went into effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday. People planning on entering official shelters were told to bring just one bag of personal belongings each, and “have a mask” to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
“If you decide to stay, you’re staying on your own,” Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie said.
Officials urged people to stay with relatives or in hotel rooms to avoid spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Evacuation buses were stocked with protective equipment and disinfectant, and they would carry fewer passengers to keep people apart, Texas officials said.
Officials in Houston asked residents to prepare supplies in case they lose power for a few days or need to evacuate homes along the coast. Some in the area are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey three years ago.
State emergencies were declared in Louisiana and Mississippi, and shelters opened with cots set farther apart, among other measures designed to curb infections. Shelters opened with cots set farther apart to curb coronavirus infections. Evacuees were told to bring a mask and just one bag of personal belongings each.
Laura’s unwelcome arrival comes just days before the Aug. 29 anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which breached the levees in New Orleans, flattened much of the Mississippi coast and killed as many as 1,800 people in 2005. Hurricane Rita then struck southwest Louisiana that Sept. 24 as a Category 3 storm.
Laura caused the deaths of at least 11 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, while knocking out power and causing flooding in the two nations that share the island of Hispaniola.
Haitian civil protection officials said they had received reports a 10-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on a home in the southern coastal town of Anse-a-Pitres, on the border with the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s prime minister said at least eight other people died and two were missing. In the Dominican Republic, relatives told reporters a collapsed wall killed a mother and her young son.
Hundreds of thousands were without power in the Dominican Republic amid heavy flooding in both countries.