US: More than half a million ordered to flee as Hurricane Laura edges closer

Hundreds of thousands of people were told to evacuate immediately from their Texas and Louisiana homes on Tuesday as Hurricane Laura moved closer to the US Gulf Coast. It is expected to bring ferocious winds, severe flooding and possibly push seawater inland.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) tweeted that Laura, which is expected to make landfall late on Wednesday or early on Thursday, posed a “life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flooding rains” which “are expected across portions of southwestern Louisiana and far southeastern Texas.”

‘Unprecedented devastation’

Some officials in Texas even warned the hurricane could make a direct hit on Houston, home to almost 2.2 million people.

Lina Hidalgo, the top executive for Harris County, which encompasses Houston, spoke of deadly winds and a devastating storm surge. Hidalgo said that millions of lives are at risk as Laura moved westward and took aim at the fourth-biggest city in the United States.

“This storm certainly can cause unprecedented devastation,” Hidalgo said.

Harris County also issued voluntary evacuations for several urban areas while emergency shelters are being prepared in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin for those having to flee their homes.

Almost 400,000 residents were told to leave the Texan cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, while some 200,000 were told to flee low-lying Calcasieu Parish in southwestern Louisiana, where forecasters said as much as 13 feet (3.96 meters) of storm surge topped by waves could submerge whole communities.

Members of the Galveston Fire Department assist locals who are fleeing to avoid Hurricane Laura as it approaches the Gulf Coast

Gathering pace

The NHC said that Laura would gain thrust from warm Gulf waters and become a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall, with winds of roughly 115 mph (185 kph).

“The waters are warm enough everywhere there to support a major hurricane, Category 3 or even higher. The waters are very warm where the storm is now and will be for the entire path up until the Gulf Coast,” NHC’s Deputy Director Ed Rappaport said.

Winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) were already evident as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring intensity.

jsi/dj (AP, Reuters)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/us-more-than-half-a-million-ordered-to-flee-as-hurricane-laura-edges-closer/a-54697377?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf