HURRICANE LAURA GAINS STRENGTH - More than half a million people have been ordered to evacuate the Texas and Louisiana coasts ahead of Hurricane Laura as forecasters expect the storm to grow to a major Category 4 hurricane as it gains strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before hitting the Louisiana-Texas coastline late Wednesday or early Thursday. The National Hurricane Center warns of potentially devastating damage. Scientists predict up to 13 feet of storm surge, which could inundate the coastline. Laura has already killed two dozen people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Speaking yesterday from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness – Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards urged people to take the time they have now to get prepared for the approaching storm.
"Please take this storm very seriously," Edwards said. "The further south you live and the further southwest you are, the stronger the impact."
While Southern Louisiana and coastal Texas are expected to receive the brunt of Hurricane Laura’s force, Edwards said people living further north should also take heed of the potential danger associated with hurricanes.
Edwards explained "For those people in central and north Louisiana especially on the west side of our state, I don't know the last time you've seen a storm come ashore that is going basically have hurricane-force winds associated with it until it exits Louisiana which is about 12-14 hours after it makes landfall."
"Please take this storm very seriously, the further south you live and the further southwest you are, the stronger the impact." Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana
The National Hurricane Center reports Hurricane Laura has rapidly intensified to major hurricane strength, currently it is rated Category 3 with sustained winds of 115 mph and promising to intensify even more before landfall. As for how Central Louisiana and the ArkLaTex will be affected, Meteorologist Brandon Thorne with the National Weather Service in Shreveport gave this latest briefing.
"For heavy rain and flash flooding we're expecting that to start to pick up as early as Wednesday and Wednesday evening," explained Thorne. "As far as our tornado threat we're expecting that to kind of pick up on Wednesday, late in the day Wednesday evening and then continue through the day on Thursday as the storm continues to make its way inland."
In Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expanding his state disaster declaration to include an additional three dozen counties as Hurricane Laura gains strength in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster declaration previously applied to 23 counties. During his latest update, Abbott said destruction from the storm could reach well beyond coastal communities.
"We are anticipating high winds well up into East Texas, including the Nacogdoches area," Abbott said. "Including the Tyler/Longview area, maybe all the way up to Texarkana dealing with tropical storm force winds," Abbott said.
Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border late Wednesday or early Thursday. Rainfall chances and gusty winds from 50 to 80 mph increase throughout Wednesday, some heavy rainfall could produce flash flooding, high winds could produce tornados.
