Hurricane Laura brings strong gusts, heavy rain to Louisiana and Texas
Nearly 400K people without power; Jeff Flock reports from Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Images and videos are emerging Thursday of the damage Hurricane Laura has inflicted on the city of Lake Charles, La. -- near where the powerful storm made landfall this morning.
The hurricane came ashore around 2 a.m. ET, leaving around 470,000 homes and businesses without power in Louisiana and Texas before weakening into a Category 2 storm.
One image of the damage shows shattered windows throughout the floors of a high-rise building in Lake Charles.
A building that was damaged overnight by Hurricane Laura stands in Lake Charles, La., on Thursday. (AP)
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A video appearing to show the same building, taken by storm chaser Reed Timmer, was posted on Twitter with the caption “glass falling everywhere in downtown Lake Charles”.
Other images posted on Twitter showed a crumbled broadcast tower belonging to news station KPLC.
The hurricane also damaged at least one gas station in Lake Charles.
Dustin Amos walks near debris at a gas station on Thursday in Lake Charles, La., after Hurricane Laura moved through the area. (AP)
And along Interstate-10, a truck was photographed in a ditch alongside the highway.
A truck and Interstate 10 sign is seen Thursday in Lake Charles. (AP)
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As of later Thursday morning, Laura's maximum sustained winds weakened to 100 mph, down from 150 mph when it made landfall.
Forecasters say it’s now centered about 20 miles north of Fort Polk, La., and moving north at 15 mph.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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