Hurricane Laura batters downtown Lake Charles

(27 Aug 2020) Laura has weakened to a tropical storm after blasting the Louisiana coast with high winds and heavy rain for hours. The system that came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane is being blamed for two deaths and widespread damage around Lake Charles, an industrial and casino city of 80,000 people. Extensive property damage has been reported; a floating casino that came unmoored hit a bridge. It is the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. this year. Laura. Forecasters predicted an unsurvivable storm surge. More than 580,000 people were ordered to evacuate, but at least some stayed behind. Rescuers have to wait for winds to die down before looking for survivors. Laura is now headed toward Arkansas. Laura slammed the Gulf Coast early Thursday and roared through Louisiana. The bulk of the damage was reported in Louisiana. The storm barreled over Lake Charles, Louisiana, an industrial and casino city of 80,000 people. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...