Getty A main street is empty as people seek safe shelter before the arrival of Hurricane Laura on August 26, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Hurricane Laura made landfall around 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, near Cameron, Louisiana, as a high Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported. At the time of landfall, it was classified by the NHC as an “extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane” with “catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds, and flash flooding” expected overnight along the Gulf Coast. At noon on August 27, Laura was downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the NHC.
Photos and videos of the extreme weather began circulating on social media hours before Hurricane Laura’s landfall, with more coming afterward showing the storm’s power and damage. Below are some of the top photos and videos of Hurricane Laura’s damage.
Photos and videos specifically of the storm surge can be found here.
Photos & Videos Showed the Damage From the Storm Beginning in the Early Hours of Thursday Morning, With More Images Coming as the Day Went On
Here are some of the photos and videos of the damage caused by Hurricane Laura. The first series of photos and videos are of Lake Charles, Louisiana, which was significantly damaged. Damage in other areas is available after. An aerial video, courtesy of Live Storms Media, showing the damage to Lake Charles, Louisiana, was shared by Todd Yakoubian of KATV:
Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby posted a series of photos:
Some shots were shared of damage to apartments:
Daylight shows damage to LaQuinta Inn in Lake Charles:
A shot of the damage at Golden Nugget, Lake Charles:
A communication tower in Lake Charles collapsed, pictured by John Humphress with Severe Studios:
Some of the Westlake area in Louisiana, north of Lake Charles:
A team traveling to Cameron, Louisiana, near where the hurricane made landfall, posted this video of the damage and flooding in the streets:
Storm chaser Reed Timmer shared the devastation and storm surge effects in Hackberry, Louisiana:
Photos of Sulphur, Louisiana, showed damage to buildings and homes in that area:
Delcambre, Louisiana, appeared to have some significant flooding in its streets:
There was also some damage reported in Orange, Texas, near the Louisiana border:
Officials Reported a Fire at a Chemical Plant in Westlake & Issued Shelter-in-Place Orders for Westlake, Sulphur & Moss Bluff
KPLC reported that authorities are warning of a fire at a chemical plant in Westlake. The outlet reports that Sulphur, Westlake and Moss Bluff are under orders to shelter in place and avoid the I-10 through Westlake. Here are some videos of the smoke:
Some of the Earlier Images Came During the Storm Overnight, Mostly in the Lake Charles Area
Storm chaser Reed Timmer posted a video of damaged buildings in Lake Charles, Louisiana with all their windows shattered in high winds:
Storm chaser Jeff Piotrowski also shared an image of a damaged high rise in Lake Charles:
Storm chaser Brian Emfinger shared some early shots of damage overnight in Lake Charles with reports of downed power lines:
More shots from Timmer show the debris flying during the storm:
The force of the winds could be seen:
Many people watched on various feeds of the storm as the Wendy’s sign in Lake Charles got destroyed — more on that here.
The 1 A.M. Update From the NHC Warned of ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Hurricane Laura as It Made Landfall
At 1 a.m. local time, the NHC warned of the storm’s catastrophic strength as it made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana. winds, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, which is just below the threshold for Category 5 hurricane status. This is the center’s update:
At 100 AM CDT (0600 UTC), Doppler radar images indicate that the eye of Hurricane Laura has made landfall at the coast near Cameron, Louisiana, near latitude 29.8 North, longitude 93.3 West. Laura is moving toward the north near 15 mph (24 km/h), and this motion should continue through the day. A northeastward to east-northeastward motion is expected tonight and Friday. On the forecast track, Laura will move inland across southwestern Louisiana this morning, and then continue northward across the state through this afternoon. The center of Laura is forecast to move over Arkansas tonight, and over the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday.
Air Force reconnaissance and Doppler radar data indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher gusts. Rapid weakening is forecast as Laura moves inland.
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