Washington, August 26: States along the US Gulf coast remain on the edge as barely few hours remain for the landfall of the "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Laura. The National Hurricane Centre (NHC), the top disaster assessment body of the United States, has predicted that Laura will become a "category 4" storm by the time it makes landfall.
The states of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama fall in the path of the devastating storm. The hurricane has already wreaked havoc in the Caribbean islands of Haiti and Dominican Republic. Several acres of farmlands and infrastructure were battered, and 13 lives were lost as per the latest assessment. Hurricane Laura: Half a Million Residents Ordered to Evacuate the Texas and Louisiana Coasts Amid COVID-19 Pandemic.
In the US, the trail of destruction could be worse as a population of nearly 20 million will be directly affected by the storm. Nearly half a million, particularly those residing in coastal belt and low-lying areas, were evacuated by the authorities.
Only Few Hours Remain to Save Lives: NHC
The Centre in a strongly worded statement asked the federal and provincial disaster response teams to ramp up their efforts ahead of the storm landfall. The hurricane is currently a category 3 storm above the Gulf of Mexico and is "rapidly intensifying" into the next stage.
By the time of landfall, it would be identified as category 4 storm -- which means a hurricane with wind speed in the range of 135 to 156 km/hr.
"Only a few hours remain to protect life and property," the NHC said on Wednesday morning, adding that the hurricane could make landfall in Louisiana by end of tonight or in the wee hours of Thursday.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2020 10:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).