Mathurin Marie Javline removes her children's soaked booklets from inside her flooded home, the day after the passing of Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Aug. 24, 2020. (Dieu Nalio Chery via AP Photo)
Hurricane Laura formed on Tuesday morning and is expected to become a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, said the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in its latest update.
U.S. hurricane hunter aircraft data suggests "that Laura has become a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), with higher gusts," the NHC said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards answers questions while holding a media briefing about the state's activity related to Hurricanes Marco and Laura in Baton Rouge, La., on August 24, 2020. Bill Feig./The Advocate via AP
Currently, the system is about 145 miles northwest of the western tip of Cuba, and it's about 625 miles southeast from Lake Charles, Louisiana, the NHC said. The storm, which has a minimum central pressure of 991 millibars, is currently moving 17 mph west-northwest, it added.
A hurricane watch is in effect now for San Luis Pass, Texas, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Watches were also issued for Lake Borgne, Lake Maurepas, and Lake Pontchartrain, the NHC said in another advisory.
A tropical storm watch is in effect from Freeport, Texas, to San Luis Pass, Texas. A watch was also issued for the area from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Mississippi River, the agency said.
A girl wades towards her flooded home the day after the passing of Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Aug. 24, 2020. Dieu Nalio Chery via AP Photo
The NHC's "cone of uncertainty" for Laura suggests that the storm might make landfall near the Texas-Louisana border at 1 a.m. on Thursday.
Trump announced a state of emergency on Aug. 23 during a press conference about the COVID-19 pandemic. The White House said that disaster relief efforts will be coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
