Aerial views show damage by HurricaneLaura to a neighborhood outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The storm made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border early Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with a maximum sustained wind speed of 150 mph.
The storm made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border early Thursday as a Category 4 major hurricane with a maximum sustained wind speed of 150 mph.
At least 731,436 customers in Louisiana and Texas were left without power as of Thursday afternoon, up from 671,307 earlier, as officials worked to recover in the wake of coastal storm surges and destructive flash flooding. Residents in the area were advised to shelter in place and avoid unnecessary travel until further notice.Laura weakened to a tropical storm early Thursday afternoon with sustained winds of 70 mph. It was last moving north at about 15 mph. The storm's center is roughly 50 miles east southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana. The storm blanketed southern Arkansas with heavy rain and strong gusty winds as it moved northward, bringing the threat of flash flooding.
As of late Thursday morning, Hurricane Laura had weakened to a Category 1 with winds of about 75 mph, bringing it closer to tropical storm territory. Flooding is still a major concern as high water levels were still being reported along portions of the Gulf Coast. By 10:33 a.m. Eastern Time, there were 507,262 customers without power in Louisiana and 126,759 customers without power in Texas, according to PowerOutage.US.Smoke rises from a burning chemical plant after the passing of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, La., Aug. 27, 2020.
However, damaging winds and flooding rainfall are still spreading inland over western and central Louisiana, while a"life-threatening storm surge continues along much of the Louisiana coastline," the weather service warned in its forecast at 9 a.m. Central Time.A 14-year-old girl in Louisiana is the first known fatality from Hurricane Laura, according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.
"Because it's not just where the surge came in, but going up north and Jasper and Center Texas, all the way up to Marshall, Texas," Abbott told"Good Morning America.""So in northeast Texas, a hurricane is going through there for as far as I know the first time ever, so this is truly unprecedented."On live radar, you can see the eye moving north of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Nungesser recalled his own decision to ride out Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, as the large Category 5 storm battered New Orleans.As the storm moves north, a tropical storm warning has been issued as far north as Arkansas and a flash flood watch has been issued for Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee. "We thought we were safe. We had generators, we had windows boarded up," Thompson said in telephone interview Thursday on"Good Morning America."
Thompson said there are felled trees and power lines in their neighborhood and they hope first responders will come as soon as weather conditions improve. Hurricane Laura is now about 45 miles north, northwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and is still moving north at 15 mph. Flash flood warnings in the Lake Charles area have been extended until 8:15 a.m. Between 5 and 6 inches of rain has fallen and flash flooding is"ongoing or expected to begin shortly," according to the National Weather Service.
"Hurricane-force winds and widespread damaging wind gusts will continue to spread well inland into portions of extreme eastern Texas and western Louisiana through the day," the weather service said in its 5 a.m. advisory The extreme wind warning in the area has been extended until 4 a.m. Lake Charles has seen sustained winds of 100 mph for almost an hour.Houston ABC station KTRK has reporters on the ground showcasing the strong winds in Lake Charles as the eye approaches.As of 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time, more than 129,000 customers are without power in Louisiana and Texas due to Hurricane Laura. In Louisiana, there are at least 109,811 customers with no electricity and 19,270 in Texas.
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