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August 27, 2020

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Deadly hurricane barrels toward US coast states

Source: AFP | 00:00 UTC+8 August 27, 2020 | Print Edition

Residents in the US states of Texas and Louisiana evacuated flood zones and boarded up windows on Tuesday as Hurricane Laura barreled toward the coastline, after killing 25 people in the Caribbean.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds neared 150 kilometers per hour, with gusts higher, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters expect it to strengthen significantly. “Laura is expected to be a major hurricane at landfall,” the center said.

It was forecast to reach the Texas or Louisiana coast last night.

Storm surges could reach up to 4 meters and will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves,” according to the NHC.

The center warned the storm surges could reach up to 48 kilometers inland from the southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas coastlines.

Texas governor Greg Abbott said Laura could reach Category 4 status, the second-highest, with winds of up to 251 kph.

“We need to be prepared,” he said, especially as the state continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic.

He warned that high winds were expected to blow through the state’s most forested area and there was potential for tornadoes.

Compared with Category 3 Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic flooding and killed 68 people in 2017, “this is going to be more of a wind event,” the governor said.

Laura also threatens the major oil refining centers of Lake Charles, Louisiana and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, near the coast.

Evacuations have been underway since the morning in areas most at risk, especially on the coast where the water could rise up to 3 meters.

Several emergency shelters opened on Tuesday in Texas. Health precautions are in place to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“COVID-19 is going to be in Texas throughout the course of the hurricane,” Abbott said.

He called on families who can afford it to take refuge in hotels or motels so they “can be isolated from others.”

In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell also called for health measures to be respected despite the threat of wind, rain and flooding.

“Don’t forget COVID-19 with weather effects from Hurricane #Laura on the way,” she said on Twitter.

The city’s historic French Quarter was emptied of its tourists.

Sandbags were piled in front of the doorways of colonial-style buildings and windows were boarded up with plywood.

“I’m not worried about the water getting in here from the storm,” said Robert Dunlap, a business owner.

“I’m worried about the rain and then the pumps not working and that’s what will cause the flooding.”

New Orleans remains traumatized from Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm in 2005, flooding 80 percent of the city and killing more than 1,800 people.

Sonya McCuller, who lived through that storm 15 years ago, said anyone who survived Katrina knows they cannot know what to expect.

“One minute you may think that it’s not going to come, the next minute you’re trying to prepare to make sure you don’t get caught in it,” she said.

“It’s crazy, but we’re just going to see what the next one is going to do.”

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