Hundreds of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate the Texas and Louisiana coasts Tuesday as Hurricane Laura churns in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane could slam into land this week as a major storm with ferocious winds and deadly flooding.
More than 385,000 residents were told to flee the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, and others were ordered to evacuate low-lying southwestern Louisiana, where forecasters said more than 11 feet of storm surge topped by waves could submerge entire towns.
The National Hurricane Center projected that Laura will become a Category 3 hurricane before landfall, with winds of around 115 mph that are capable of devastating damage. Nearly all computer simulations that forecasters rely on show rapid strengthening at some point in the next couple of days.
“The main point is that we’re going to have a significant hurricane make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday,” National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport said Tuesday.
In Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas, mandatory evacuation orders went into effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday. People planning on entering official shelters were told to bring just one bag of personal belongings each, and “have a mask” to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
“If you decide to stay, you’re staying on your own,” Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie said.
Officials in Houston asked residents to prepare supplies in case they lose power for a few days or need to evacuate homes along the coast. Some in the area are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey three years ago.
CBS Houston affiliate KHOU reports that Laura is not another Harvey-like rain event. While there will be rain, forecasters are more concerned about wind and storm surge.
Forecasters said ocean water could push onto land along a more than 450-mile-long stretch 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.
State emergencies were declared in Louisiana and Mississippi, and shelters opened with cots set farther apart, among other measures designed to curb infections.
