Tropical Storms Marco and Laura were expected to develop into hurricanes as they gained strength and focused on an unusual twin strike next week on the US mainland
Marco entered the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday night and went ashore in Louisiana or Mississippi on Monday afternoon, according to projections from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane status could come as early as Saturday night, federal forecasters said.
Laura, on Saturday across the eastern Dominican Republic, was expected to strengthen until Tuesday afternoon after a hurricane, the center said. It could make landfall Wednesday afternoon from Texas to the Gulf Coast of Florida, proponents said.
“It looks like the upper Gulf is getting a one-two punch,” Hurricane Central spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. “That’s very unusual being close together.”
The shortest time between U.S. landfall for major storms is 23 hours between September 4 and 5, 1933.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency before the storm on Friday and on Saturday asked President Donald Trump to grant federal emergency status to the state.
“Tropical storms Marco and Laura are predicted to hit Louisiana next week in rapid succession,” Edwards’ office said in a statement.
To achieve hurricane status, the storms would need to generate sustained winds of at least 74 mph.
Marco was in the Gulf of Mexico, about 75 miles west-northwest of Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, according to the hurricane center. It moved north-northwest at 13 mph.
A hurricane watch was operating from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including New Orleans, federal forecasters said.
Tropical Storm Laura was located about 85 miles east-southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. It was moving west at 18 mph.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and parts of the northern coast of the Dominican Republic and a tropical storm guard was issued for the central Bahamas and the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to Key West and the Dry Tortugas, said the hurricane center.
