Officials are urging residents in some US Gulf Coast communities to evacuate immediately as Hurricane Laura rapidly gains steam. It is expected to slam into Texas and Louisiana as a catastrophic Category 4 storm, which could bring damage that renders wide areas uninhabitable for weeks or months. The potential destruction that Laura is threatening has already drawn comparisons to hurricanes Rita, Katrina, and Harvey.
The storm grew nearly 70 percent in power in just 24 hours to reach Category 3 status, and it continued to draw energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters. Mid-afternoon Wednesday, the National Weather Service officially upgraded it to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane. The system was on track to arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday as the most powerful hurricane to strike the United States so far this year, according to the Associated Press.
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Laura could bring “multiple life-threatening hazards” to the Gulf Coast starting later Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center, and is expected to make landfall overnight into Thursday.
Hurricane center officials are also warning of an “unsurvivable” 20-foot storm surge that could inundate entire communities in Texas and Louisiana. The surge could go as far as 40 miles inland, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm.
The National Hurricane Center has been raising its estimate of Laura’s storm surge, from 10 feet just a couple of days ago to twice that size now, according to the Associated Press.
“Some areas, when they wake up Thursday morning, they’re not going to believe what happened,” said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist, according to the AP.
The large and destructive waves were expected to cause “catastrophic” damage from Sea Rim State Park in Texas to Intracoastal City in Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine lakes, hurricane center officials said.
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On Wednesday morning, Laura had maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour as it churned about 225 miles from Lake Charles, La., moving northwest at 16 miles per hour. Those winds are expected to increase to 145 miles per hour before landfall, pushing water onto more than 450 miles of coast from Texas to Mississippi.
Weather officials expected tropical storm-force winds to arrive in parts of Texas and Louisiana as soon as 2 p.m. Wednesday.
There is also a more-than 90 percent chance that the strong winds will hit parts of Texas and Louisiana. The damaging gusts are expected to spread well inland across parts of eastern Texas and western Louisiana early Thursday.
Widespread flash flooding, particularly along streams, urban areas, and roadways, is also expected to begin Wednesday afternoon into Thursday from far eastern Texas to Louisiana and Arkansas, weather officials said.
Meanwhile, potential rainfall totals could be in the 10- to 15-inch range in some areas along the Texas-Louisiana border.
Several watches and warnings have been issued for much of the Gulf Coast. Hurricane warnings were issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Intracoastal City, La., and reached inland for 200 miles. Storm surge warnings were in effect from Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Officials were urging residents in the affected area to finish storm preparations and evacuate to a safer community.
“Heed the advice of your local authorities. If they tell you to go, go! Your life depends on it today,” said Joel Cline, tropical program coordinator at the National Weather Service. “It’s a serious day and you need to listen to them.”
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If you were not ordered to evacuate, be prepared to take shelter in a sturdy structure in an interior room away from windows on the lowest floor possible. Dangerous winds will last for hours in many locations tonight and/or tomorrow.https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP for the latest. pic.twitter.com/P1lfN7noXt
— National Weather Service (@NWS) August 26, 2020
‘‘It could be difficult for some people to make it through this storm,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott told The Weather Channel.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JaclynReiss
August 27, 2020 at 01:11AM
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/26/nation/these-maps-show-when-where-how-hard-hurricane-laura-is-expected-hit-us/
These maps show when, where, and how hard Hurricane Laura is expected to hit the US - The Boston Globe
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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