After a rapid progression from Category 2 to Category 4 over just two days, Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, La., about 1 a.m. CDT on Aug. 27 with sustained winds of 150 mph—the most powerful storm to ever make landfall in Louisiana, according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. But the “unsurvivable” storm surge that many had predicted was not as high as anticipated.
“It is clear that we did not sustain and suffer the absolute catastrophic damage that we thought was likely based on the forecast that we had last night. But, we have sustained a tremendous amount of damage,” Edwards said during a press conference Aug. 27.