Hurricane Laura has increased in strength to 150 MPH sustained winds as it closes in on the coastline communities near the Texas-Louisiana border. Southwestern Louisiana will see the most significant storm surge. This is a very dangerous storm. All hurricanes are unnerving, but the nighttime storms arriving in darkness are some of the most unsettling.

[National Hurricane Center] – At 700 PM CDT (0000 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Laura was located near latitude 28.4 North, longitude 92.9 West. Laura is moving toward the north-northwest near 15 mph (24 km/h). A turn toward the north is expected overnight, and a northward motion should continue on Thursday.
A northeastward to east-northeastward motion is expected Thursday night and Friday. On the forecast track, Laura will approach the upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts this evening and move inland within that area tonight. The center of Laura is forecast to move over northwestern Louisiana tomorrow, across Arkansas Thursday night, and over the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday.
(more…)