Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana near the Texas border early Thursday as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
The storm hit Cameron, Louisiana, at about 1 a.m. (2 a.m. ET), according to the National Hurricane Center, which called it an "extremely dangerous" hurricane.
Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles from its center. Laura will move inland Thursday morning and move north across Louisiana through Thursday afternoon.
The National Weather Service has said that devastation could spread far inland in eastern Texas and western Louisiana.
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Hundreds of thousands left without power across Louisiana and Texas
More than 350,000 households in Louisiana and Texas were without power early Thursday after Hurricane Laura made landfall packing extremely high winds.
According to PowerOutage.us, a project created to track, record, and aggregate power outages across the country, more than 280,000 are without power in Louisiana and more than 70,000 are without power in Texas as of 4 a.m. CT (5 a.m. ET).
Extreme winds generated by Hurricane Laura are expected to bring catastrophic wind damage near the storm's eye, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane-force winds and damaging wind gusts are also expected to spread well inland into portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana Thursday morning.
'TAKE COVER NOW!': Hurricane Center issues dire warning amid extremely high winds
The National Hurricane Center said the eyewall of Hurricane Laura will continue to move inland across southwestern Louisiana for the next several hours, with continuing catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding.
"TAKE COVER NOW!" the center warned in it latest update. "Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to the safe room in your shelter."
The safest place to be is in a reinforced interior room away from windows, the statement added.
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Aug. 27, 202002:24Louisiana governor closes part of Interstate 10
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the state is closing Interstate 10 from around the Atchafalaya Bridge outside of Lafayette all the way into part of Texas, because several stretches within that area are expected to flood.
In a radio interview Wednesday night, Edwards talked of the “apocalyptic” language that meteorologists have used for the storm. “The language I’ve heard from the National Weather Service I’ve never heard before ... They’re sending the strongest possible message about how serious this storm is,” he said.
He talked specifically about concerns in Cameron Parish.
“When people built back after Rita, they routinely built back to 15 feet,” Edwards said. He noted those structures would be overwhelmed.
Edwards said search and rescue efforts will begin Thursday as soon as it’s safe enough for officials to go out into floodwaters.
The scene in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Louisiana
Aug. 27, 202005:20Houston area ready to help Louisiana
The top government official in Harris County, Texas, said that while the Houston area appeared to escaped relatively unscathed by Hurricane Laura, they county stands ready to help Louisiana, where the massive storm made landfall early Thursday.
"Now that we are watching with horror how it is impacting our neighbors to the east, our approach turns to aid," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a phone interview with MSNBC early Thursday.
Hidalgo said first responders from all over the country are in the county to assist with the storm, and they are ready to provide any assistance needed in Louisiana.
Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, on that state's southwestern coast as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph winds around 1 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Laura makes landfall on Louisiana coast
Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, made landfall on the southwestern Louisiana coast early Thursday.
The storm made landfall at 1 a.m. near Cameron, Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said. Catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding were occurring in parts of the state, it said.
Before it officially made landfall, the northern eyewall moved over southwest Louisiana's Cameron Parish, and people still there were warned to take cover immediately.
Nearly 50,000 customers were without power in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes as the eyewall moved onshore, according to utility company Entergy's website.
More than 9,000 customers were without power in Jefferson County in Texas, which is near the Louisiana border, and more than 5,000 were without power in Orange County to the northeast.