Hurricane Laura Update 4:30 PM CT - Aug 26
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2020 4:47 pm
Track of the storm is away from heavily populated areas of Houston, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but smaller towns will get hit hard. People living along the Texas Louisiana border much get out fast. Low areas with 20 miles of the coast may be wiped out by flooding. This reminds me of Rita.
With winds topping 145 mph, Hurricane Laura reached Category 4 status on Wednesday afternoon as it barreled toward the Texas-Louisiana border with potential to strengthen more before devastating the coastline.
As of 4 p.m., the system was located about 155 miles southeast of Port Arthur, moving toward the coast at about 15 mph. It remained on course to make landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border. Wind speeds and water levels are rising along the northwest Gulf coast.
Regions directly in Hurricane Laura’s path and east of the storm face catastrophic consequences from what the National Hurricane Center called an "extremely dangerous" storm expected to ravage portions of the northwest Gulf coast with "unsurvivable" storm surge, extreme wind and widespread flash flooding.
Hours before the expected landfall, as Laura was careening northwest around 4 p.m., a tornado watch expected to last through 9 p.m. was issued for areas east of the Houston area and most of the Louisiana coast. The pressure was also dropping to about 948 mb and some coastal water levels in neighboring Louisiana were already starting to rise at least three feet, according to National Weather Service meteorologists. Coastal waters at Sabine Pass in Texas were also rising to at least two feet above the ground.
Outer swaths of rain were starting to whip across inland, with gusty winds and downpours expected in Liberty and Chambers counties.
Despite its growing strength, forecasters have “very high” confidence that the hurricane's landfall will be Wednesday night in the far southwest vicinity of Louisiana, meaning Houston would avoid the brunt of the devastating storm, NWS forecaster Brian Kamman said. Laura is predicted to remain a category 4 hurricane through landfall tonight and then weaken rapidly, officials said.
"(We're) still getting impacts on the left hand side of that track across southeast Texas, but not as severe as they'll see up in the Beaumont, Port Arthur area on east across Louisiana where conditions look very severe," another meteorologist, Dan Reilly, said in a briefing.
Hurricane warnings remain in effect from San Luis Pass to Intracoastal City, La. and storm surge warnings are in place for Freeport to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
With winds topping 145 mph, Hurricane Laura reached Category 4 status on Wednesday afternoon as it barreled toward the Texas-Louisiana border with potential to strengthen more before devastating the coastline.
As of 4 p.m., the system was located about 155 miles southeast of Port Arthur, moving toward the coast at about 15 mph. It remained on course to make landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border. Wind speeds and water levels are rising along the northwest Gulf coast.
Regions directly in Hurricane Laura’s path and east of the storm face catastrophic consequences from what the National Hurricane Center called an "extremely dangerous" storm expected to ravage portions of the northwest Gulf coast with "unsurvivable" storm surge, extreme wind and widespread flash flooding.
Hours before the expected landfall, as Laura was careening northwest around 4 p.m., a tornado watch expected to last through 9 p.m. was issued for areas east of the Houston area and most of the Louisiana coast. The pressure was also dropping to about 948 mb and some coastal water levels in neighboring Louisiana were already starting to rise at least three feet, according to National Weather Service meteorologists. Coastal waters at Sabine Pass in Texas were also rising to at least two feet above the ground.
Outer swaths of rain were starting to whip across inland, with gusty winds and downpours expected in Liberty and Chambers counties.
Despite its growing strength, forecasters have “very high” confidence that the hurricane's landfall will be Wednesday night in the far southwest vicinity of Louisiana, meaning Houston would avoid the brunt of the devastating storm, NWS forecaster Brian Kamman said. Laura is predicted to remain a category 4 hurricane through landfall tonight and then weaken rapidly, officials said.
"(We're) still getting impacts on the left hand side of that track across southeast Texas, but not as severe as they'll see up in the Beaumont, Port Arthur area on east across Louisiana where conditions look very severe," another meteorologist, Dan Reilly, said in a briefing.
Hurricane warnings remain in effect from San Luis Pass to Intracoastal City, La. and storm surge warnings are in place for Freeport to the mouth of the Mississippi River.