Hurricane Laura has hit category four strength and is set to wreak havoc in southwest Louisiana when it makes landfall early tomorrow morning. Governor Edwards warns residents that areas south of I-10 will likely be swamped, and I-10 itself will likely be overtopped in places around the region. He also warns many structures will be flattened.
Joel Cline with the National Hurricane Center says they’re projecting as much as 20 feet of stormsurge along the coast, and says the storm will produce heavy rainfall, a half a foot could fall in a short amount of time…
The Louisiana National Guard has been fully mobilized for the first time since Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
Congressman Garret Graves says southwest Louisiana is not defended against storms like Laura the same way that southeast Louisiana is. He notes the region does not have the same kind of extensive levee system in place, which allows water to drain out more quickly, but…
Graves did warn that Hurricane Rita, which landed a similar blow in 2005, did wipe out large portions of the region’s wetlands.
State officials are alerting residents that mass power outages in the path of the storm are highly likely, and could persist for days after landfall. Entergy Louisiana is preparing to respond, and CEO Phillip May says crews are station just outside of harms way and ready to move into effected areas the moment the winds allow them to do so.