Hurricane Laura reached the Louisiana coast in the early hours of Wednesday as a Category 4 storm carrying winds in excess of 150 mph. Hours later, it was still a Category 2 storm bringing hurricane-force winds far inland. At 8 AM CT, the eye of the storm was near the center of Louisiana, still carrying 100 mph winds, intense rain, and the threat of both flash floods and tornadoes. Though the storm is weakening, it may still be a hurricane when it crosses into Arkansas on Thursday evening.
With daylight, the catalog of damage caused by the storm’s passage is only starting to be assembled. At least 500,000 people are without power in Louisiana alone, damage to buildings in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is extensive. Images from areas around the town of Sulphur, 60 miles inland, show extensive damage with trees uprooted, homes destroyed, and some buildings absolutely flattened. What has happened along the coast remains unclear. At this point it appears that the “unsurvivable” 20-ft storm surge failed to materialize, which is a huge relief, though the threat of storm surge has definitely not passed. However, the storm actually did one good thing—taking care of a issue that Republican leaders in the area had refused to address.
In Lake Charles, Hurricane Laura appears to have plucked a Confederate statute from the top of its pedestal and sent it … somewhere. As divine signs go, consider that one a “get out.” Still, even though this is satisfying, it’s certainly not worth the other results of the storm’s passage.
All over Lake Charles, the damage to buildings large and small has been extensive. Residents emerging from their homes have described some areas as “unrecognizable,” in both Lake Charles and in towns closer to Port Arthur, like Orange and Sulphur.
Tornado chaser Reed Timmer was on hand for the storm’s passage through Lake Charles and captured video that seems almost as intense as that other form of vertex.
A storm surge warning from the National Hurricane Center remains in effect on Thursday morning, with potential for significant additional surge along a line from High Island, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi. No one should be thinking of returning to these areas at this point. It is definitely not safe, and will remain that way for some time. It will be days before the threat of surge and flash floods from the storm is passed.
In any case, the surge at the center of the storm appears to have been closer to 9 ft than what the NHC had warned was an “unsurvivable” 20 ft. Areas along a 100-mile line that had been expecting as much as 15 ft have, at this point, experienced surge levels more like 4-6 ft. Overall, the storm appears to have simply dragged along much less water than was feared, and for that everyone can be grateful.
Still, the level of surge is likely to have devastated communities closer to the coast. Search and rescue teams are just beginning to head into the area, looking for anyone who stayed behind over evacuation warnings and determining the level of structural damage.
