Updated at 1:50pm:
DELCAMBRE, La. (AP) – Laura has strengthened into a menacing Category 4 hurricane.
The storm’s power is raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters say would be “unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities on the Texas and Louisiana coast.
Authorities implored coastal residents to evacuate and worried that not enough had fled.
The storm grew nearly 70% in power in just 24 hours to reach Category 3 status, and it continued to draw energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.
Laura was on track to arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday as the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. so far this year.
Original Story:
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – Forecasters say Hurricane Laura is rapidly intensifying and will power up into a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane – an even stronger storm then previously expected -as it churns toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday that Laura’s maximum sustained winds have increased to near 110 mph (175 kph) with higher gusts.
Satellite images show that Laura has become “a formidable hurricane” in recent hours. It has undergone a remarkable intensification, “and there are no signs it will stop soon” as it moves toward Texas and Louisiana, with winds that increasingly cover much of the Gulf of Mexico.
More than half a million people have been ordered to evacuate the Texas and Louisiana coasts ahead of Hurricane Laura.
it is the largest u.s. evacuation of the pandemic. Forecasters expect Laura to grow to a major Category 3 hurricane before making landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.
It’s estimated that over 320-thousand homes could be impacted across the Texas at the reconstruction cost of over 65-billion dollars according to WFAA-TV.
Hurricane Laura just before the sun rises over the Gulf of Mexico. Intensification continues and major hurricane status is imminent. #txwx pic.twitter.com/JO2D2WNfx3
— Texas Storm Chasers (@TxStormChasers) August 26, 2020
