“Laura strengthened Wednesday into a menacing Category 4 hurricane, raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be ‘unsurvivable’ and capable of sinking entire communities. Authorities implored coastal residents of Texas and Louisiana to evacuate and worried that not enough had fled” Politico reports.
“The storm grew nearly 87% in power in just 24 hours to a size the National Hurricane Center called ‘extremely dangerous.’ Drawing energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, the system was on track to arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday as the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. so far this year. ‘It looks like it’s in full beast mode, which is not what you want to see if you’re in its way,’ University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said. Winds were expected to reach 150 mph before landfall, and forecasters said up to 15 inches of rain could fall in some places.”