Dealers across Gulf Coast brace for Hurricane Laura

Automotive retailers along the northern Gulf Coast in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are preparing their dealerships for severe weather. While Tropical Storm Marco has weakened, all eyes remain on Laura, which was upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday and was moving toward the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

Several cities and towns, such as Galveston, Texas, were evacuating on Wednesday.

Dealer associations in the affected states said that several members opted to close their doors as early as Monday.

Louisiana dealers are "hoping for the best but expecting the worst," Will Green, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, told Automotive News.

"It's one of the realities of southern Louisiana — you have to be good at hurricane preparedness."

The National Hurricane Center changed the status of Hurricane Laura from Category 2 to Category 3 Wednesday morning as winds increased from 70 mph to 115 mph and the storm moved further toward the northwest at 15 mph.

The National Hurricane Center recommends that “steps to protect life and property should be rushed to completion in the next few hours.”

The Weather Channel anticipates the storm to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane by the end of the day.

Laura is forecast to approach upper Texas and southwest Louisiana by Wednesday night moving inland through Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

San Luis Pass, Texas to Intracoastal City, La., remain under a hurricane warning. Storm surge warnings are also in effect for Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

“From this afternoon through Friday, Laura is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches across portions of the northwestern Gulf Coast from western Louisiana to far eastern Texas, and northward into much of Arkansas,” a public advisory from the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Laura follows Tropical Storm Marco, which made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi Monday.

Marco's status was dropped to a remnant low early Tuesday and storm surge warnings were lifted.

According to the Weather Channel, the most notable impact of Marco was the rainfall reaching nearly 12 inches near Apalachicola, Fla.

Dealers on the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi prepared for Marco but were mostly spared as the storm lost its strength overnight.

Mississippi dealer Bobby Dalgo closed his Crown Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat store Monday afternoon to allow his employees to prepare their homes for the storms. He was able to reopen his store to normal hours Tuesday morning.

Marty Milstead, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association, said it was important for his members to "forget the cars and turn to the human element."

Milstead said that although some of his board members closed their dealerships on Monday, Mississippi dealers experienced little impact from Marco.

Bobby Dalgo told Automotive News his dealership should be out of harm's way from Laura if the hurricane stays its course.

Alabama auto dealers prepared for heavy rainfall from the tropical storms, but the president of the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama, Tom Dart, said "they will be OK on Laura unless it changes paths."

Green said with warnings and watches changing every few hours in Louisiana, "We're just watching and anxiously waiting to see if and when these storms hit."