…DAMAGING WINDS AND FLOODING RAINFALL SPREADING INLAND OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA…
…LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE CONTINUES ALONG MUCH OF THE LOUISIANA COASTLINE…

*** A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for…
* High Island Texas to the Mouth of the Mississippi River
*** A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…
* High Island Texas to the Mouth of the Mississippi River

Hurricane-force winds and damaging wind gusts are also
expected to spread well inland into portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana this morning. Tropical storm conditions will spread northward within the warning areas through the day.

Life-threatening storm surge with large and destructive waves will continue within the Storm Surge Warning area this morning. This surge could penetrate up to 40 miles inland from the immediate coastline, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm.

Tornadoes are possible today and tonight over parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, and western Mississippi.

At 7 a.m. CDT, the center of Hurricane Laura was located inland about 20 miles (30 km) north of Fort Polk, La. It’s 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 northward across western and northern Louisiana through this afternoon. The center of Laura is forecast to move over Arkansas tonight, the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph (160 km/h) with higher gusts – a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km). An observing site in Alexandria, Louisiana, recently reported a wind gust to 74 mph (119 km/h). Rapid weakening is forecast, and Laura is expected to become a tropical storm later today.

The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide…
– Johnson Bayou to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge including Calcasieu Lake…15-20 ft
– Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge to Intracoastal City…10-15 ft
– Intracoastal City to Morgan City including Vermilion Bay…8-12 ft
– Sea Rim State Park to Johnson Bayou including Sabine Lake…4-8 ft
– Morgan City to Mouth of the Mississippi River…4-7 ft
– High Island to Sea Rim State Park…2-4 ft
– Mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs including Lake Borgne…1-3 ft
– Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas…1-3 ft

Through Friday, Laura is expected to produce the following rainfall totals:
– Across portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, across Arkansas: 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals of 18 inches.
This rainfall will cause widespread flash and urban flooding, small streams and creeks to overflow their banks, and minor to moderate freshwater river flooding.
– Through Saturday, Laura is expected to produce 1 to 3 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 5 inches across the mid-Mississippi Valley and portions of the Tennessee and Lower Ohio Valley, the central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic States. This rainfall may lead to flash and urban flooding and rapid rises on small streams.

The next complete advisory will be issued by NHC at 10 a.m. CDT – www.hurricanes.gov