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Smoke rises from a chemical plant fire in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Thursday, August 27, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Updated 1:42 PM ET, Thu August 27, 2020
Smoke rises from a chemical plant fire in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Thursday, August 27, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana around 2 a.m. Thursday as a deadly Category 4 storm, with winds of 150 mph, killing at least one person. The storm rapidly weakened to Category 1, but not before leaving a wake of destruction in parts of Louisiana and Texas.
More than 270,000 customers those states were without power early Thursday morning, according to PowerOutages.us.
The threat of Laura's impact prompted evacuations in recent days.
"There's just not a lot of doubt that this will be a large and extremely dangerous hurricane for eastern Texas and Louisiana," tweeted Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center. "It is sobering to watch... please be smart if you are in the path."
As a tropical storm, Laura killed at least nine people in the Caribbean.
Latasha Myles and Howard Anderson stand in their living room where they were sitting when the roof blew off around 2:30am on August 27, in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Reginald Duhon prepares to clean up around his home in Lake Charles after Hurricane Laura moved through the state on August 27.
Gerald Herbert/AP
The driver of an overturned 18 wheeler truck exits his vehicle after police arrive to the scene along I-10 in Vinton, Texas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. Both the driver and a passenger suffered minor injuries.
Adrees Latif/Reuters
James Sonya surveys what is left of his uncle's barber shop in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Capitol One Bank Tower is seen with its windows blown out in the downtown area of Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A cat walks through the debris of Lake Charles home on Thursday.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Mitch Pickering plays his guitar while walking amid storm debris in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A tree is uprooted in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura in Sabine Pass, Texas, on August 27.
Eric Gay/AP
A police officer and resident work to clear debris from a street in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A hotel room that had its roof blown is pictured in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A person walks past a destroyed building in the wake of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles.
Andrew Caballero-/AFP/Getty Images
Storm debris is seen strewn across an escalator inside the Capitol One Bank Tower in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A tangle of power lines hangs over a street in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Damage to the Golden Nugget Hotel in Lake Charles is pictured on August 27.
Anne Clifford/CNN
Flooding caused by Hurricane Laura is seen in Sabine Pass, Texas, on Thursday.
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
A photo taken by a reporter with WVUE shows how the storm tore through the walls of their TV station in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Rob Krieger/WVUE
Down power lines stretch across a road in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura in Sabine Pass, Texas.
Eric Gay/AP
A flattened structure is seen near a beach in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as the eye wall of hurricane Laura passes over, early on Thursday.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
A single truck is parked in an open lot as heavy rains from hurricane Laura fall in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Wednesday, August 26.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
The L'Auberge Casino Resort is seen after the lights went out with the arrival of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles on August 27.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Shrimp boat Sea Lion V prepares for Hurricane Laura's landfall on August 26.
Eric Gay/AP
This photo of Hurricane Laura was taken from aboard the International Space Station on August 26.
Chris Cassidy/NASA
Victoria Nelson lines up her children, Autum Nelson, 2, Shawn Nelson, 7, and Asia Nelson, 6, as they board a bus to evacuate Lake Charles, Louisiana, ahead of Hurricane Laura's landfall August 26.
Gerald Herbert/AP
A sheriff's deputy wipes his face while manning a roadblock in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on August 26.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Families line up to board buses to evacuate Lake Charles on August 26.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Children play at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack, where some evacuees were settling in Austin, Texas, on August 26.
Bob Daemmrich/Cal Sport Media/Zuma Press
Demeteri Bushnell is hugged by her great-niece as they and other evacuees prepare to board a bus in Lake Charles.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Traffic is at a near-standstill on Interstate 10 as people evacuate the region near Jennings, Louisiana, on Tuesday, August 25.
Dan Anderson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A US Postal Service employee covers a mailbox with plastic wrap in Galveston, Texas. The plastic wrap signals that the final mail has been cleared from the box, and it prevents people from placing mail inside that could be lost in a flood.
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle/AP
An evacuee waits to board a bus in Port Arthur, Texas, on August 25.
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Nick Gaido, left, helps board up windows at his seafood restaurant in Galveston.
David J. Phillip/AP
Roman Tatriot, with the help of family and friends, rounds up cattle in Cameron, Louisiana, so he can get them to higher ground.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A family walks to a charter bus that would take them from Galveston Island to Austin.
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle/AP
Katy Gay carries a dog as the Houston SPCA transferred more than 100 animals to the Austin Humane Society.
Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle/AP
People wait to board a bus to leave Galveston.
Callaghan O'Hare/Getty Images
People make sandbags at St. Raymond Church in New Orleans.
Bryan Tarnowski/Bloomberg/Getty Images
People tie down their vessels along Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain on Sunday, August 23.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
People stand in long lines before entering a New Orleans Costco to pick up supplies.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Michael Kent moves his boat in Venice, Louisiana, on August 23.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Crews bring sandbags to help with flooding prevention in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
Dan Anderson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Cesar Reyes, right, carries a sheet of plywood as he helps install window coverings at a business in Galveston.
Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News/AP
Houston firefighters prepare rescue equipment in advance of the storm.
Jon Shapley/The Houston Chronicle/AP
