At a Glance
- Evacuations of more than 400,000 people were ordered across East Texas.
- Evacuations affecting more than 125,000 were ordered in Louisiana.
- The governors of Texas and Louisiana declared disasters in advance of the storms.
- Many school districts announce they will be closed the rest of the week.
This article is no longer being updated. Please click here for the latest on preparations for Hurricane Laura.
More than half a million people in east Texas and western Louisiana have been told to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Laura, which could make landfall as a major Category 3 storm.
"Today is the day. The weather is still nice here in Galveston. This is the day for everybody to get their belongs together and, for the safety of themselves and their family, to go ahead and evacuate today. Do not wait," Craig Brown, mayor pro tem of the city of Galveston, told The Weather Channel.
Galveston, which sits on a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast, issued a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday morning and urged residents to leave as soon as possible.
Surrounding Galveston County issued a voluntary evacuation for the Bolivar Peninsula saying it was possible the peninsula cold be cut off from emergency services because of Hurricane Laura.
“The main point is that we’re going to have a significant hurricane make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday,” National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport said Tuesday.
Complicating evacuations is reduced capacity at emergency shelters because of the need for social distancing in the era of the coronavirus.
"Frankly there's not that many places for people to go to," Dick Gremillion, director of homeland security and emergency preparedness for Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish, told The Weather Channel. "In our traditional shelters, we've lost two-thirds of capacity. It has been a difficult time rolling COVID into hurricane preparations."
Gremillion said that was one reason the parish had called for voluntary evacuations instead of making the order mandatory. If shelters run out of room, he said, residents would be taken on buses to other parts of the state.
(MORE: Laura Expected to Become Major Hurricane Before Striking Texas, Louisiana Coasts)
Earlier, Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick ordered a mandatory evacuation for all of the Texas county to go into effect at 6:30 a.m. CDT Tuesday.
The order doesn't apply to workers deemed essential, such as those at hospitals and in government, KFDM reported. More than 250,000 people live in the county.
Branick told the Beaumont Enterprise he chose to issue the evacuation order after hearing the latest trends from meteorologists that put more of the county at increasing risk of a potential major hurricane strike from Laura.
Officials in Orange County, Texas, also announced a mandatory evacuation on Monday evening, effective at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Orange County sits on the Louisiana border and includes the communities of Orange, Bridge City and Rose City. The county population is about 83,000.
(WATCH: National Hurricance Center Director Says 'This is a Life-Threatening Situation')
The mayor of Port Arthur, also in Texas near the Louisiana state line, called for a mandatory evacuation from the city and the nearby community of Sabine Pass, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office told weather.com Monday night.
Chambers County officials issued a voluntary evacuation order, especially for residents who live in low-lying or flood-prone areas, or those whose homes have flooded during recent high-rain events.
Thousands of residents in Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere had already hunkered down because of Tropical Storm Marco, but officials turned their attention toward the greater threat of Laura as Marco fizzled out.
Tropical Storm Laura killed at least 23 people in the Caribbean. Laura could bring a significant threat of storm surge, strong winds and flooding rainfall to parts of the Louisiana and Texas coasts on Wednesday and Thursday.
"The good news and the bad news is that Laura is still somewhat unpredictable," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
"This is not Harvey. This is not Imelda. This is not Allison. This is Laura. Every storm is different and we urge folks not to use any prior storm as a template for what could or will happen. What we need to do is prepare for the worst," said Hidalgo, who is the top official for the county surrounding Houston, Texas.
Hidalgo said residents should be prepared to evacuate should the order come Tuesday after Laura's path becomes clearer.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told The Weather Channel he hopes his state's residents don't let their guard down just because Marco was not as strong as expected.
"Laura has always been the greater threat to Louisiana," Edwards told Jim Cantore. "We don't want people to become complacent because we caught a break with Marco."
Edwards declared a state of emergency for Louisiana on Friday night and requested a federal emergency declaration on Saturday. President Donald Trump approved Edwards' request for help.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott preemptively declared a state disaster for 23 counties ahead of Marco and Laura. The declaration puts resources and personnel on standby. Abbott also asked for a federal emergency declaration for those counties, which was approved.
Texas school districts also are watching Laura's movement. Beaumont Independent School District announced its school would close at 1 p.m. Monday and remain closed for the rest of the week, KHOU reported. Brazosport ISD schools will close Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Port Arthur, Port Neches-Groves and Sabine Pass independent school districts also announced they would close the rest of this week, according to the Port Arthur News.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice evacuated three secure facilities and part of a fourth and three residential facilities in the Beaumont and Jasper areas.
Louisiana
In Louisiana, officials have issued mandatory evacuations for several communities along the state's coastline.
The U.S. Postal Service announced nine post offices in southeast Louisiana are closed because of the evacuation orders.
Residents and visitors to Grand Isle, in Jefferson Parish, were told to leave Sunday morning. The island, about 100 miles south of New Orleans, has about 1,400 year-round residents but can swell to 10,000 during the summer months. An evacuation shelter was opened at a local recreation center.
The Louisiana National Guard and parish crews worked over the weekend to shore up the gulf-side levee on Grand Isle. About 2,000 feet of the levee was ripped up by Tropical Storm Cristobal in early June.
(WATCH: Grand Isle Officials Race To Shore Up Damaged Levee With Giant Sandbags)
A voluntary evacuation was advised in some other parts of Jefferson parish. Mandatory evacuation orders were also issued for parts of Lafourche and Plaquemines parishes.
Officials with the Cameron Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness ordered mandatory evacuations to begin at 1 p.m. Monday. The order included the lower parish communities south of the Intracoastal Waterway of Johnson Bayou, Holly Beach, Cameron, Creole, Grand Chenier and Big Lake and areas south of Kelso Bayou Bridge in Hackberry. Parish officials also urged residents who live in areas prone to flooding to evacuate.
Public schools in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Charles, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday, nola.com reported. Some announced schools would be closed through at least Thursday or Friday.
In Southeast Louisiana, parishes closing schools for at least part of the week included Allen, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis, according to KPLC.
State offices closed in 35 parishes, KPLC reported.
The Louisiana National Guard also pre-positioned high water rescue vehicles and boats in case they are needed after the hurricane arrives.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
