'Catastrophic' Laura still on track for 1 a.m. landfall

As Hurricane Laura moves closer to landfall, officials are using words like "catastrophic," "devastating" and "formidable" to describe what is now expected to be a Category 4 storm.

For reference sake, Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 storm when it struck Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005 with up to 175 mph winds. Hurricane Rita was a Category 3 storm with 115 mph winds on Sept. 24, 2005. Laura will be packing a punch of 130 mph winds.

The National Hurricane Center reported Wednesday morning that Laura underwent a dramatic intensification Tuesday night to surpass forecasters previous prediction of its power, although its expected path has not changed much in the past 24 hours.

The storm surge could be as high as 15 feet and push several miles up rivers, threatening communities and causing flash floods. Forecasters fear the surge could submerge whole communities. Storm surge warnings have been issued from Port Arthur to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Coastal communities are told to expect widespread power outages, downed trees and damage to homes and businesses. The National Weather Service said power outages could last weeks or months and areas ravaged by the storm could be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Almost 600,000 residents near the Texas-Louisiana line have been told to evacuate -- 385,000 in the Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur areas and 200,000 in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes.

In a press conference Tuesday, Gov. John Bel Edwards urged those evacuating to get to their safe place by noon today, when the effects of the hurricane will begin to be felt. He said the weather situation will deteriorate quickly after that. The storm is expected to make landfall around 1 a.m. Thursday and be a tropical storm by 1 p.m. Thursday as it passes near Shreveport.

Evacuees are being urged to seek shelter with relatives or stay in hotel rooms to avoid spreading COVID-19. This emergency is the largest evacuation effort during the coronavirus pandemic. Edwards said the situation is more challenging because the affected area has one of the highest rates of positive COVID tests in recent testing.

Hurricane Laura has shut down 84 percent of oil production and 61 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 300 platforms have been evacuated.

Market watchers do not anticipate the gas price spike seen before other major storms because of the dramatic drop in demand due to the COVID-19 "stay at home" measures.

Laura killed 20 people in Haiti and three in the Dominican Republic last week when it was just a tropical storm.