Hurricane Laura Path, Tracker: Storm moving north in western Louisiana near Texas at Category 3 strength

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) – Hurricane Laura struck Thursday morning in southwest Louisiana as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, forecasters said.

From 6 a.m. EST, the National Hurricane Center reported that Laura had a maximum sustained wind of 110 miles per hour, making it a Category 2 storm.

Laura is moving north at 15 mph, a fast pace and good news for keeping rain totals. The eye is about 25 miles northwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm came ashore at Cameron, Louisiana, around 2 p.m. It was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km / h), making it the most powerful hurricane to hit the US so far this year.

The force of the storm has raised fears of a 20-foot (6-foot) storm surge that predicts would be “unsustainable” and capable of sinking entire communities off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The current could drive up to 40 miles inland from the coastline.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power in Louisiana and Texas. Some of those communities could be without power for weeks, according to local officials.

Hurricane force winds are expected to continue throughout the morning.

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Laura is already accused of 11 deaths. All happened in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where the storm knocked out power and caused major flooding.

In Texas and Louisiana, the extent of the damage remains unknown, as the sun has not yet risen and the storm is sweeping the area.

Laura is expected to eventually succumb to a post-tropical depression and work her way through the Ohio River. It could eventually drive east across Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina, and dump heavy rain along the way.

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