Tropical Storms Marco and Laura are on track to make landfall along the Gulf Coast within the next 48 hours.
Marco, nearing Louisiana and headed toward Texas, is expected to lose strength and dissipate in the next three days. Laura, passing over Cuba on its way into the Gulf of Mexico, will likely make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday. Based on the National Hurricane Center’s tracking, Louisiana and Texas are in the direct path of both storms.
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Marco and Laura are the latest storms of an already busy Atlantic hurricane season. “It looks like the upper Gulf is going to get a one-two punch,” NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Friday in preparation for the two incoming storms.
Tropical Storm Marco became a storm off the coast of Honduras on Friday. It turned to a category one hurricane Sunday night, but its wind speeds fell and it became a tropical storm again Monday morning.
Marco still has the potential to cause heavy damage along the coast, and the NHC has issued storm surge warnings for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. A storm surge warning indicates there’s a “danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline.” Marco could bring flooding and rainfall of up to 10 inches along portions of the Gulf Coast.
Laura is expected to make landfall in Louisiana and Texas by Wednesday morning, and is forecast to become a hurricane by midday Tuesday. Tropical Storm Laura has already hit Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola with heavy rainfall, and at least 11 people in the Caribbean have died as a result of the storm, including a 10-year-old Haitian girl.
The NHC issued tropical storm warnings across portions of the Caribbean. A hurricane watch is expected to be issued for portions of the Gulf Coast on Monday night. The hurricane center’s long-range tracking has Laura moving northeast across the United States as it exits Louisiana.
