Flooded streets, broken electricity pylons: Hurricane "Laura" caused a lot of damage
Photo: Eric Gay / APAfter urgent warnings, the extremely dangerous hurricane "Laura" hit the US mainland on the Gulf of Mexico with wind speeds of 240 kilometers per hour. In the dark of Thursday night, the hurricane caused considerable damage in parts of the states of Louisiana and Texas, which gradually became visible at daybreak: The force of the storm covered roofs, tore away the facades of houses and caused electricity pylons and trees to buckle. Sea water flooded the coast far inland.
A 14-year-old did not survive the storm in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, a spokeswoman for the governor confirmed. A tree fell on the family home. The hurricane killed at least three other people in Louisiana. Governor John Bel Edwards said at a press conference that he was concerned that more deaths could be found in the search and rescue operations that are now being carried out. "I hope not, I pray, but that's why we're going out there and doing this search and rescue."
In Texas there was initially no evidence of fatalities, as Governor Greg Abbott told Fox News. "That was the ultimate goal."
Hundreds of thousands of households without electricity
Meteorologists continued to warn of flooding caused by heavy rain, destructive winds and dangerous storm surges. According to US media reports, hundreds of thousands of households were without electricity. US President Donald Trump wanted to be briefed on the situation by the civil protection department, announced the White House. "Now is not the time to go sightseeing," warned Louisiana's Governor Edwards. The danger has not yet been averted.
The governor made it clear that, based on current knowledge, the damage was less severe than expected. "It is clear that we did not suffer the absolutely catastrophic damage we believed possible based on the forecast we had last night. But we did suffer an enormous amount of damage," said Edwards. Above all, the power grid was significantly damaged.
A whistle was heard when the hurricane hit Sulfur in Louisiana, wrote hurricane hunter Josh Morgerman on Twitter in the early hours of the morning. One of his videos shows how the storm lashed the rain masses in front of it - in the light of a street lamp it looked like swirls of fog moving quickly.
People like Morgerman are in imminent danger of the storms regardless of the warnings. Numerous photos and videos also document the damage that the hurricane caused on social networks.
The authorities had ordered hundreds of thousands of people to get to safety. The closer the storm got to the US coast on Wednesday, the more urgent the warnings became. "Now take cover," the National Hurricane Center finally wrote. It is a "life-threatening situation".
The hurricane sounds like "a roaring jet engine", a reporter for the television station CNN described the situation in Lake Charles (Louisiana). The hurricane caused even the most stable buildings to tremble and broken glass flew through the air. Window panes of a massive skyscraper in the town could not withstand the force of the storm, as was visible in daylight.
A fire broke out in a chemical factory in Westlake, Louisiana, after "Laura" met her. In the incident near the city of Lake Charles, there was a chlorine gas leak, the police said. It remained unclear whether this triggered the fire. Governor Edwards twittered residents to stay indoors, close doors and windows, and turn off air conditioning. The affected company Biolab manufactures chemical products for the household and pools. Thick, gray billows of smoke were visible in pictures.
Storm surge less dramatic than expected
Given a strength of four out of five, the hurricane center spoke of an "extremely dangerous hurricane". Warnings were given about "devastating" damage and storm surges "that cannot be survived". There will be no electricity or water for several days or weeks. Violent winds and flooding threatened the state of Arkansas as well. Authorities had warned that due to the flooding, many places may not be accessible until Friday or Saturday.
Meteorologists expected storm surges up to six meters high. The maximum height was around 4.5 meters, said Governor Edwards. The fact that the storm surge was less dramatic than expected was due to the fact that the eye of the storm moved further east than assumed and thus did not directly hit a ship's canal.
"Laura" weakened rapidly over the mainland, as expected, but remained dangerous. The cyclone had quickly gained strength over unusually warm seawater and was upgraded from category two to category four within a few hours on Wednesday. This made it the first very strong hurricane of the season. Meanwhile, "Laura" has the strength of a tropical storm, as announced by the National Hurricane Center.
The US climate agency NOAA predicts that 2020 could be a record year for hurricanes. 19 to 25 storms are expected, of which seven to eleven could become hurricanes, three to six even very strong with wind speeds of 178 kilometers per hour and more. In average years there are twelve storms on the Atlantic coast, three of which develop into category three, four or five hurricanes.
Icon: The mirrorkfr / dpa
