Hurricane Laura strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it neared landfall in Louisiana and Texas early on Thursday, with forecasters warning it could be “unsurvivable” for coastal areas.
Authorities had urged residents on the coast to evacuate, but not everyone did before winds of around 150mph started buffeting trees and thousands of homes and businesses lost power.
The National Hurricane Center said that in the last 24 hours the storm has grown nearly 87 per cent in power, intensifying rapidly into an “extremely dangerous” event.
Officials said it was on track to hit land at high tide as the most powerful hurricane to strike the US so far this year, and possibly the strongest ever to hit Louisiana.
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Hurricane Laura is blasting 150mph winds along the Gulf of Mexico as the storm strengthened close to a Category 5 approaching landfall along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, where residents are bracing for destructive winds and life-threatening surges with waves as high as two storeys.
The National Hurricane Centre clocked sustained winds of 150mph with even-stronger gusts as the storm gathered strength over the Gulf on Wednesday night.
The storm is expected to hit during high tide, and weather officials delivered an ominous forecast of an “unsurvivable” surge with “large and destructive” waves as high as 20 feet along the coast, and as far as 40 miles inland, that could “cause catastrophic damage”.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live blog tracking the arrival of Hurricane Laura on the southern US coast.
We’ll be following the latest updates as the storm, the most powerful to hit the US so far this year, is predicted to make landfall in the coming hours.
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