Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall in Louisiana as Powerful Category 4 Storm

Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm last night, one of the strongest the Gulf Coast has ever seen. She landed in Louisiana shortly after midnight and has since downgraded to a category one. It’s also believed by the end of the day she’ll turn into a tropical storm. While it appears Laura is weakening, there are still other concerns. A storm surge of up to 15 feet is predicted to spread across 30 miles inland of the gulf coast region. The National Hurricane Center further warned some areas of the surge could be “unsurvivable” and that it may not recede for several days. It’s reported half a million residents between Texas and Louisiana had been asked to evacuate with several counties under mandatory orders. However, in at least one county under the mandate, about 150 people refused to leave. The damage cause by the storm still has yet to be determined, but we do know as of this morning around half a million homes between the two states lost power.