Hurricane Laura reaches category 4 5:40
(CNN) –– Hurricane Laura will soon hit southwest Louisiana and the upper coasts of Texas.
The phenomenon has intensified rapidly, with winds increasing 104 kilometers per hour in speed in just 24 hours. Furthermore, it will make landfall as an extremely powerful and dangerous Category 4 hurricane.
- LOOK: Minute by minute: Hurricane Laura moves towards the US.
Laura is now the most powerful August hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Katrina tore through 15 years ago.
Places from Port Arthur, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, will experience a 150-mile-per-hour hurricane straight ahead.
Here's what to expect from a Category 4 hurricane
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There will be "catastrophic damage" when a Category 4 hurricane makes landfall, says the National Hurricane Center (NHC). “Well-built houses can suffer severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and / or some exterior walls. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted, and power poles will fall. Downed trees and power poles will insulate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months, "adds the entity.
In addition to the winds, the impacts include more than a foot of rain in some places, isolated tornadoes for others and, as the NHC said Wednesday, an "insurmountable storm surge" for many.
Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline. #Laura pic.twitter.com/bV4jzT3Chd
- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 26, 2020
Mandatory evacuations have been issued for residents on the coasts that are in Laura's path, due to that extreme storm surge scenario.
Louisiana and Texas, of course, are no strangers to hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that Louisiana has been hit directly by 54 hurricanes, 17 of these major, and Texas by 64 hurricanes, 19 of which were major, since records began in the mid-19th century.
However, neither Category 4 or 5 has affected this part of the two states.
Map showing continental US Category 4-5 #hurricane landfalls. No Category 4-5 hurricanes have made landfall in extreme eastern Texas or southwest Louisiana on record (since 1851). #Laura #HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/jaRAq82DfB
- Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 26, 2020
Hurricane Laura will change that when it makes landfall in the early hours of this Thursday.
It is sure to leave an indelible mark on the region.
The system will be for the area what Hurricane Andrew meant for Miami, Hurricane Rita for Houston and Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans.
Hurricane Laura