The tropics follow: 27 August
FOX 35 meteorologist Alison Gargaro follows what is now Tropical Storm Laura.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Laura is weakened in a tropical storm system after being attacked as a powerful Category 4 storm in southwest Louisiana.
Laura swept a low-lying coastline with ocean water that forecasters said could be 20 feet deep and unsurvivable.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm, which intensified rapidly Wednesday before plowing ashore, came ashore at 1 a.m. CDT near Cameron, a small community about 48 miles east of the Texas border. “Potentially catastrophic effects will continue,” forecasters said.
Winds stormed above hurricane force up to 127 km / h (204 km / h), while Laura’s northern eye wall moved onshore across Cameron Parish, the National Hurricane Center, and forecasters said even stronger winds were possible that could shake buildings, flatten trees and smash cars or toys.
RELATED: ‘Glass falls everywhere’: Video, images show damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura
The system was weakened Thursday morning after a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds up to 75 mph, the NHC said. It has meanwhile dropped even further and is now at 65 mph, making it a tropical storm.
The NHC said damaging winds and flooding were spreading inland across central and northern parts of Louisiana. High water levels remain along parts of the Gulf Coast.
Governor John Bel Edwards said he received reports of the first fatal death from Hurricane Laura in Louisiana, a 14-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on her home.
RELATED: 1st death reported by Hurricane Laura is a 14 year old girl in Louisiana
Following this, the governor reported that the storm had taken at least four lives, all by falling trees. He said, “I ask that we all raise these families in prayer.”
Authorities had asked coastal residents of Texas and Louisiana to evacuate, but not everyone did so before strong winds began to buffalo trees back and forth in an area devastated by Rita in 2005.
Video and photos on social media showed torrents of rain sideways along streetlights in Lake Charles, and streets covered with water closer to shore. A sudden storm surge turned cameras around to capture the effects of the hurricane.
Receiving energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico, the system arrived early Thursday during high tide as the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. so far this year.
“It looks like it’s in full beast mode, which is not what you want to see when you’re in the way,” Miami University hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said. Hurricane force winds that extended 95 miles from the center of the storm, near the shore, forecasters said, and bands of heavy rain fell 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the shore at Lake Charles.
Maximum sustained winds increased to 150 mph (241 km / h) for the night, and forecasters said that up to 38 centimeters of rain could fall. Forecasters issued a string of tornado warnings as the storm drifted to land, but there were no immediate reports of damage. More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power in Texas and Louisiana.
TRACK THE TROPICS: Visit the FOX 35 Orlando Hurricane Center for the latest in the tropics, including daily updates, live radar, and severe weather warnings
One major Louisiana highway had already had standing water when Laura’s outer tires moved ashore with tropical storm-force winds. Earlier Wednesday, the wind picked up when shoppers stormed a supermarket in low-lying Delcambre.
Building flat as Hurricane Laura Lake Charles infected
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana early Thursday morning, August 27, bringing strong winds and a “non-survivable storm surge,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
A Category 4 hurricane can make wide areas uninhabitable for weeks or months and knock out power just as long. The threat of such devastation posed a new challenge to disaster relief for a government already strained under the coronavirus pandemic. The parts of Louisiana that were under evacuation orders included areas that elicited high rates of positive COVID-19 tests.
The National Hurricane Center continued to increase its estimate of Laura’s storm surge, from 10 meters (3 meters) just days ago to twice as large – a height that forecasters said would be particularly deadly. Hurricane warnings were issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, and reached the country for 322 miles. Storm surge warnings extend from Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy photographed Hurricane Laura from the International Space Station. (Chris Cassidy / NASA)
Laura was expected to provide widespread flash water in states far from the coast. Flood watches were issued for much of Arkansas, and forecasters said heavy rainfall could arrive by Friday in parts of Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. Laura is so powerful that it is expected to become a tropical storm again once it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, possibly threatening the Northeast.
Be prepared: Get your Orlando Hurricane Survival Guide to stay prepared for the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season
Laura will be the seventh named storm to hit the U.S. this year, setting a new record for U.S. landslides in late August. The old record was six in 1886 and 1916, according to hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University.
Local power crews are trying to help during Hurricane Laura
Power crews in Central Florida are on the path of the storm.
Hurricane season officially ends on November 30th.
Download the FOX 35 Weather App to track the tropics on your phone, receive severe weather warnings and get the latest daily forecasts.
See FOX 35 News for the latest updates.
