Hurricane Laura made landfall on the Gulf Coast and the place saw strong winds, torrential rains and rising sea levels as the storm moved over to southwestern Louisiana near the Texas border in the United States on Thursday.
According to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC), Laura made landfall just before 1 am as a category 4 storm, with winds of 150 mph (240 kph) in the small town of Cameron, Louisiana.?
Videos and images on social media show the impact of heavy winds and rain that has been battering buildings, blowing out windows, littering debris into the air and ground as the hurricane moved over southwestern Louisiana.
The damage was also observed in Lake Charles, which is about 45 miles (72 kilometres) north of where the storm made the landfall.
Apart from the images and videos shared by social media users, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration¡¯s (NOAA) hurricane-chasing airplane gave people a rare glimpse of the inside of storm Laura as it passed through the hurricane. Nick Underwood shared a time lapse video of the journey on Twitter and induces emotions of awe, fear and wonder at the same time.?
The NOAA has been actively tweeting about the hurricane¡¯s movement and sharing the stunning images of its various bodies captured ahead of the landfall.
Other videos on social media show the effects of the storm- road signs bending, trees shaking violently in the wind, vehicles being blown over.?
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Hurricane Laura also poses an inland flood risk as far north and east as Arkansas and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Isolated tornadoes are also expected from Laura.
¡®As of right now, it looks like Houston will be spared from the major impacts and power outages. It could experience gusty, possibly tropical storm force, winds and stormy weather at times from the rainbands. Our eastern cities including Winnie, Liberty and Livingston could still experience damaging winds¡,¡¯ according to the National Hurricane Center advisory.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reportedly said, ¡°The power of hurricane Laura is unprecedented and Texans must take action now to get out of harm's way and protect themselves. The State of Texas is prepared to respond to the storm, and we are working alongside federal and local officials to keep Texans safe."
When storm Laura made landfall, over 2,90,000 homes and businesses were without power in Texas and Louisiana. Damage assessment and rescue missions will operate when the conditions allow.?
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