Laura now forecast to be a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane
Published:Wednesday | August 26, 2020 | 9:23 AM
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Hurricane Laura is forecast to rapidly power up into a “catastrophic” Category 4 hurricane, even stronger than previously expected, as it churns toward Texas and Louisiana, swirling wind and water over much of the Gulf of Mexico.
Satellite images show Laura has become “a formidable hurricane” in recent hours, threatening to smash homes and sink entire communities.
It has undergone a remarkable intensification, “and there are no signs it will stop soon,” the National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday.
“Some areas, when they wake up Thursday morning, they’re not going to believe what happened,” said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist.
“We could see storm surge heights more than 15 feet in some areas,” Stewart said.
“What doesn’t get blown down by the wind could easily get knocked down by the rising ocean waters pushing well inland.”
Laura grew nearly 70% in power in just 24 hours to reach Category 3 status, with maximum sustained winds around 115 miles per hour on Wednesday morning.
It was about 280 miles out from Lake Charles, Louisiana, moving northwest at 15 miles per hour.
Top winds of 130 miles per hour are now predicted before landfall, pushing water onto more than 450 miles of coast from Texas to Mississippi.
Hurricane warnings were issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, and storm surge warnings from the Port Arthur, Texas, flood protection system to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
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