Laura also tied the Last Island 1856 hurricane with sustained wind speed 150 mph / 241 km/h for strongest to landfall in Louisiana ever, according to Colorado State University. The superstorm in Lousiana and Texas 13 killed and next 23 dead left in Caribbean.
Its central pressure at landfall was similar to Hurricane Rita in 2005, though Laura’s winds were stronger.
The winds knocked out power to more than 800 000 homes and businesses in southeast Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, according to poweroutage.us. Some 200,000 people in Louisiana have no access to water because of damage to water systems.
One U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gauge along the Mermentau River at Grand Chenier measured peak inundation of 13 to 15 (up to 4,57 metres) feet above dry ground during the height of Laura’s storm surge. This is roughly the magnitude of Hurricane Rita’s 15-foot peak storm surge from September 2005.
In Louisiana, the worst damage appeared to be in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes. “It’s worse than Rita, that’s all I can tell you,” Shawn Bonsall, fire chief in the Cameron Parish town of Grand Chenier. /weather.com
After losing electricity and water, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital had to evacuate patients to facilities across the state, KPLC reported. “You don’t have a supply to the air conditioning units.” – COVID-19 patients have needed a quick transport.
Trees were down in many Arkansas counties and some structures were damaged. An EF2 tornado tore through parts of Randolph County, Arkansas, near the Missouri border late on the night of August 27. Another tornado heavily damaged a church east of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Next tornado was sighted by emergency management just outside of Oxford, Mississippi.
During next days, as tropical depression Laura will bring unfavorable weather across Mid-Atlantic/Northeast. Above Atlantic could later again strengthens to a tropical storm.
Tropical Depression Thirteen formed in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Lesser Antilles on 19. August 2020 and strengthened into Tropical Storm Laura. Laura was the earliest Atlantic ‘L’ named storm on record. The previous record was Luis on 29. August 1995.
A big video and photodocumentation of hurricane Laura:
Sources:
Accuweather, Wunderground
