Hurricane Laura expected to be catastrophic Category 4 storm as it churns toward Louisiana, Texas

Hurricane Laura grew into a Category 3 major hurricane Wednesday morning, the first major hurricane of the season. The storm is expected to reach Category 4 wind strength before making landfall between Louisiana and Texas Thursday morning bringing with it a life-threatening utility belt of natural hazards.

Laura will approach Lone Star and Pelican state coasts Wednesday evening and is forecast to produce a life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds, and flash flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. update.

Laura, the fourth hurricane of the season, has maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, according to the NHC’s 8 a.m. update. Once it exceeds 129 mph it will be classified as a Category 4 major hurricane. As it approaches the coastline its winds are forecast to grow in strength Wednesday to maximum sustained speeds between 120 and 130 mph. Rapid weakening should begin once it makes landfall. Laura is moving at 15 mph, and is 315 mph south-southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana and 335 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.

Laura’s hurricane-force winds extend up to 70 miles from its center and its tropical-storm-force winds reach up to 175 miles.

A number of watches and warning were issued to Gulf coast communities. First, a storm surge warning is in effect for Freeport Texas to the Mouth of the Mississippi River. A hurricane warning was issued from San Luis Pass, Texas to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Sargent, Texas to San Luis Pass as well as East of Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Mouth of the Mississippi River. A storm surge watch was advised from the Mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, as well as Louisiana communities of Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Lake Borgne. Lastly, a hurricane watch is in effect from East of Intracoastal City to Morgan City, Louisiana.

More than 385,000 residents were told to flee the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, and still more were ordered to evacuate low-lying southwestern Louisiana, where forecasters said more than 13 feet of storm surge topped by waves could submerge entire towns.

Laura is not expected to greatly affect Florida, although it could bring rip currents along the Panhandle. Despite Laura not arriving on Florida shores, 40 Central Florida firefighters were activated as part of Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 4 and set out for Louisiana at 8 a.m. Wednesday from Orlando. The team is led by firefighters from Orlando Fire Department, Orange County Fire Rescue and Seminole County Fire Department, as well as joined with members from Lake County Fire Rescue and Clermont Fire Department.

Task Force IV will be deployed for 15 days, assisting with structural collapse, swift water rescue, wide area search and hazardous materials. The 40 firefighters include firefighters, paramedics, structural engineers, doctors, search and rescue K9s, and other highly-trained specialists. The team will arrive in southwest Louisiana near Lake Charles where the Louisiana State Fire Marshal will assume command.

People of Louisiana prepared for Laura by heading to stores to stock up on food, water and other supplies.

The area’s population still recalls the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when catastrophic flooding breached the levees in New Orleans and as many as 1,800 people died.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, who declared a state of emergency Friday, asked President Donald Trump for a federal emergency declaration.

“What we know is there’s going to be storm surge from Marco, we know that that water is not going to recede hardly at all before Laura hits, and so we’ve not seen this before and that’s why people need to be paying particular attention,” Edwards warned at a Sunday briefing.

Forecasters said ocean water could push onto land along a more than 450-mile-long stretch of coast from Texas to Mississippi. On top of that, up to 15 inches of rain could fall in some spots in Louisiana, said National Weather Service meteorologist Donald Jones.

In Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas, mandatory evacuation orders went into effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday. People planning on entering official shelters were told to bring just one bag of personal belongings each, and “have a mask” to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

“If you decide to stay, you’re staying on your own,” Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie said.

Officials in Houston asked residents to prepare supplies in case they lose power for a few days or need to evacuate homes along the coast. Some in the area are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey three years ago.

State emergencies were declared in Louisiana and Mississippi, and shelters opened with cots set farther apart, among other measures designed to curb infections.

Laura’s unwelcome arrival comes just days before the Aug. 29 anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which breached the levees in New Orleans, flattened much of the Mississippi coast and killed as many as 1,800 people in 2005. Hurricane Rita then struck southwest Louisiana that Sept. 24 as a Category 3 storm.

Laura caused the deaths of at least 11 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, while knocking out power and causing flooding in the two nations that share the island of Hispaniola.

Haitian civil protection officials said they had received reports a 10-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on a home in the southern coastal town of Anse-a-Pitres, on the border with the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s prime minister said at least eight other people died and two were missing. In the Dominican Republic, relatives told reporters a collapsed wall killed a mother and her young son.

Hundreds of thousands were without power in the Dominican Republic amid heavy flooding in both countries.

Staff writers Tiffini Theisen, Rick Tribou, David Harris and Katie Rice contributed to this report.

More coverage at OrlandoSentinel.com/hurricane.

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