- As Hurricane Laura bears down on the Gulf Coast, the US National Hurricane Center is now warning that “little time remains to protect life and property before water levels begin to rise and winds increase in the warning areas.” [Twitter / National Hurricane Center]
- Laura was elevated to a Category 4 hurricane early Wednesday afternoon and is expected to make landfall along the Texas and Louisiana coasts on Wednesday night with sustained winds of up to 140 miles per hour. [NPR / Samantha Raphelson]
- When it does, the result will be what the National Hurricane Center is calling an “unsurvivable” storm surge reaching as far as 30 miles inland. At least 1.5 million people in Texas and Louisiana are currently under evacuation orders. [CNBC / Emma Newburger]
- Evacuating has been made more difficult by the coronavirus, however. Large-scale shelters like gyms present obvious difficulties in the midst of a pandemic, though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state is taking steps to provide PPE and maintain social distancing. [New York Times]
- In addition to a storm surge, Hurricane Laura is expected to bring tornadoes and as much as 10 inches of rain when it hits. Forecasts suggest it could even intensify further before making landfall. [Vox / Umair Irfan]
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