Laura roared toward landfall in southwestern Louisiana near the Texas border as a menacing Category 4 hurricane late Wednesday, pushing ocean water topped with waves on to a low-lying coast that forecasters said would be inundated with 'unsurvivable' storm surge as much as 20 feet deep.
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The storm grew nearly 87 per cent in power in just 24 hours to a size the National Hurricane Center called "extremely dangerous." Drawing energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico, the system was on track to arrive early Thursday during high tide as the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. so far this year.
Maximum sustained winds increased to 150 mph before nightfall, and forecasters said up to 15 inches of rain could fall. Forecasters issued a string of tornado warnings as the storm pushed on to land, but there were no immediate reports of damage. Thousands of homes and businesses were without power.
Officials said at least 150 people refused pleas to leave and planned to weather the storm in everything from elevated homes to recreational vehicles in coastal Cameron Parish, which could be completely covered by ocean water.
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