Hurricane Laura has made landfall near Cameron as a Category 4 storm with max winds at 150 miles per hour. An extreme wind warning is in effect until at least 3am for all of Calcasieu Parish as well as portions of Cameron, Beauregard, Allen, Jeff Davis, and Vermilion Parishes for extremely dangerous hurricane winds. Morning show host from Acadiana radio station Big 102.1 Fast says even in the outskirts of the warning area, the gusts are still fierce.
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In response to Hurricane Laura, Governor John Bel Edwards has mobilized the entire Louisiana National Guard, a decision he says hasn’t been made since Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Louisiana National Guard Sgt. Denis Ricou (Denny Ree-coo) says they’ve got plenty of food and water to take care of people in the aftermath.
More than 3,000 guardsmen are out and ready to support response and recovery efforts.
State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says roughly 500 Urban Search and Rescue team members are on standby to respond to the areas impacted by Hurricane Laura. Browning says much of the work of the state’s Urban Search and Rescue teams takes place outside of the state and says now many of those states are coming to return the favor.