Just before 1 a.m. Thursday morning, Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Catastrophic storm surge and wind have swept southwest Louisiana overnight. As of the 13.00 hrs advice, Laura is now a tropical storm and has sustained winds of 65mph. Further east in the WBRZ Weather and Baton Rouge area there is a chance of showers, isolated tornadoes, and even tropical storm winds (39mph + for at least one minute) through this evening. Showers and thunderstorms will continue overnight and until Friday morning.
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TORNADO WATCH has been issued for the entire viewing area until Thursday 4 p.m. Tropical rainbands can produce short, tornadoes. The cells will move very quickly, so if a warning is issued, immediately take shelter in a low-level interior room, away from windows.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH has been issued for the entire viewing area until and including Thursday evening. Tropical rain tires will be able to produce heavy showers and isolated street and bad flood water. Be careful on the roads and never drive on streets with water.
WIND ADVISORY is active for areas east of the Mississippi River. Winds are likely to continue between 25-39 mph all Thursday.
STORM SURGE WARNINGS are located off the coast of Louisiana from the Texas border to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Surge could reach 15 to 20 feet from Johnson Bayou to Rockerfeller Wildlife Refuge and Calcasieu Lake, 8 to 12 feet from Intracoastal City to Morgan City including Vermilion Bay, 4 to 7 feet from Morgan City east to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The following 24 hours: On Thursday afternoon, tropical rain showers will continue over the subway. Isolated tornadoes will remain a threat. Feeder bands associated with Tropical Storm Laura attenuation can cause precipitation, and potentially areas of flooding. Wind could sometimes exceed 40 km / h, especially west of the River Amite. This can cause some spotty power outages. Have a way to receive warning information in case a flash flood or tornado warning is issued for your area. You can get alerts from our app on you Call of Android device. (Click on links to download). Rain will start to taper overnight.
After that: Even if Laura weakens and moves well to the north and east of the local area, there will be a lot of tropical moisture left behind. Therefore, scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms will warm up during the day on Friday. Water should return to a typical pattern of August over the weekend, although afternoon showers are still in the offing.
The WBRZ Weather Team is here for you, on any platform. Your weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on you Call of Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook en Twitter for even more weather updates as you go.
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