Category 4 Hurricane Laura heading for a destructive landfall in Louisiana
The storm packs sustained winds of 140 mph and may produce 10- to 20-foot storm surge.
It’s a textbook case of rapid intensification.
Major Hurricane Laura rapidly intensified to Category 4 strength Wednesday. The storm fueled up over warm waters up to 90 degrees in the Gulf of Mexico.
Laura has “the look” Wednesday with a concentric central dense overcast (CDO) and well-defined eye structure as it spins toward the Louisiana coast.
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Landfall early Thursday
The latest hurricane track forecast from NHC brings Laura ashore early Thursday morning along western the Louisiana coast. Hurricane warnings are up for eastern Texas and western Louisiana.
With winds expected to remain at or near 140 mph up until landfall, anything standing near the coast will suffer extensive wind damage.
Massive storm surge
NHC is calling the storm surge with Laura “unsurvivable” to anyone in the direct path. A massive storm surge between 10 to 20 feet is likely near and to the right of where the center makes landfall. This includes the Lake Charles, Louisiana area.
The Louisiana coast is a maze of bayous and canals. Laura’s storm surge may penetrate up to 30-miles inland from the coast.
STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide...
Johnson Bayou LA to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge including Calcasieu Lake...15-20 ft
Sea Rim State Park TX to Johnson Bayou LA including Sabine Lake...10-15 ft
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge to Intracoastal City LA...10-15 ft
Intracoastal City LA to Morgan City including Vermilion Bay...8-12 ft
Port Bolivar TX to Sea Rim State Park...6-9 ft
Morgan City LA to Mouth of the Mississippi River...4-7 ft
Stronger than Katrina at landfall?
Laura is forecast to remain at Category 4, or even intensify to Category 5 strength at landfall. If that happens it would ebb the first Cat 5 to make landfall in Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico, but was category 3 at landfall.
Extremely dangerous Major Hurricane Laura will bring a devastating blow to much of western Louisiana into Thursday.