Half a million ordered to evacuate Gulf Coast because of Hurricane Laura
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More than half a million people have been ordered to flee the US Gulf Coast as forecasters warned of “catastrophic damage” from Hurricane Laura – saying a potentially deadly surge could penetrate 30 miles inland.
Authorities urged the country’s biggest evacuation of the pandemic after the storm strengthened into a hurricane, telling people in Texas and Louisiana that “actions to protect life and property should be rushed to completion this evening”.
People board a bus during evacuations, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Laura, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA, 25 August 2020. Hurricane Laura is predicted to make landfall near the Louisiana-Texas border on 27 August 2020. EPA-EFE/DAN ANDERSON
It is expected to batter swathes of the two states with ferocious winds and heavy flooding, with forecasters warning as much as 13ft (3.96 metres) of storm surge topped by waves could submerge entire neighbourhoods.
More than 385,000 residents were told to flee the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, with another 200,000 people ordered to leave low-lying Calcasieu Parish in southwestern Louisiana.
A statement issued by the National Weather Service said: “There is danger of life-threatening storm surge with large and dangerous waves producing potentially catastrophic damage from San Luis Pass, Texas, to the Mouth of the Mississippi River.
“This surge from Laura could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline in southwestern Louisiana and far southeastern Texas.
“Actions to protect life and property should be rushed to completion this evening, as water levels will begin to rise on Wednesday.”
