CAMERON, La. — Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron, Louisiana, early Thursday morning at about 1 a.m. As Laura moved inland, it produced torrential rain, high winds, life-threatening flash flooding, incredible storm surge and even a few tornadoes.
Louisiana is no stranger to strong hurricanes, but Laura will go down in history as one of the state's strongest ever.
At landfall, Laura packed winds of 150 mph, which made it a Category 4 storm at the time of impact. Only one other hurricane was as strong as Laura at the time of landfall and that was the "Last Island hurricane" that struck way back in 1856.
You might be wondering about hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Both of those were Category 5 storms at their peak over the open Gulf of Mexico, but at the moment of impact, those hurricanes had weakened to Category 3 storms with winds near 120 mph. While both of those hurricanes were strong and produced unimaginable damage, Laura's intensity was stronger at the time of landfall, carrying winds at 150 mph.
To give some perspective, there have only been nine other hurricanes with winds at 150 mph or stronger to strike the continental mainland U.S. since records started back in the 1850s. Some of those storms include Hurricane Camille in 1969, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hurricane Charley in 2004 and Hurricane Michael in 2018. Also noteworthy, Hurricane Maria (2017), was a deadly Category 5, which struck Puerto Rico and left a wake of destruction in its path.
Laura's name will likely be retired and will go down in history as the 10th hurricane ever to bring such wind speeds to the U.S mainland.