Major Hurricane Laura tracked north northwest across the Central and Northern Gulf of Mexico from the Central Carribean Sea near Cuba, making landfall in Southwest Louisiana near Cameron around 1 am on August 27th as a strong Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph, and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb. Laura remained a hurricane as it tracked north across Southwest and Central Louisiana and into Natchitoches Parish, before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved northeast across North-central Louisiana and South-central Arkansas. A combination of observed and estimated wind gusts ranged from 50-90+ mph, resulting in numerous to widespread downed trees and power lines over these areas throughout the morning and early afternoon, before winds weakened by mid-afternoon with the departure of Laura into Southern Arkansas. Widespread rainfall amounts of 2-6 inches was observed across North Louisiana, with higher amounts of 6-8+ inches recorded across Southern and Western DeSoto, Sabine, Natchitoches, Western Grant, Winn, Jackson, and Eastern Bienville Parishes. Flooding was mostly confined to Natchitoches and Western Caddo Parishes.
Here are the peak wind gusts at various automated stations across the affected areas of North Louisiana:
Gum Springs RAWS (Winn Parish), 70 mph (Incomplete data due to power failure) |Natchitoches (Natchitoches Parish), 66 mph (Incomplete data due to power failure)|Shreveport Regional Airport (Caddo Parish), 66 mph |Monroe (Ouachita Parish), 62 mph (Incomplete data due to power failure)|Ouachita Christian School (Ouachita Parish), 62 mph |Benton (Bossier Parish), 61 mph|Mansfield (DeSoto Parish), 59 mph |Shreveport Downtown Airport (Caddo Parish), 58 mph|Red River Research Station (Bossier Parish), 58 mph |Catahoula RAWS (Grant Parish), 56 mph (Incomplete data due to power failure)|The University of Louisiana-Monroe, Hanna Hall (Ouachita Parish), 55 mph |Bossier City, Barksdale Air Force Base (Bossier Parish), 55 mph |South Bossier City, LSU Research Station (Bossier Parish), 48 mph|Ruston (Lincoln Parish), 44 mph (Incomplete data due to power failure)
During the peak of the widespread power outages shortly after Laura's center of circulation exited North Louisiana during the afternoon of the 27th, 136,000 customers were without power in Western Louisiana, East Texas, and Southwest Arkansas, with nearly 108,000 Entergy customers without power across North-central and Northeast Louisiana, as well as South-central Arkansas.
Preliminary damage estimates from the LSU AgCenter indicate that Hurricane Laura caused $525.4 million in damage to Louisiana farmers, and $1.1 billion to the Louisiana timber industry, more than Hurricanes Katrina and Rita combined in 2005. Grant Parish alone was 4th in the state with the amount of timber lost, with over $111 million. Entergy reported that Hurricane Laura caused $1.7 billion to its infrastructure throughout Louisiana.
Here are the known damage across various parishes affected in North Louisiana:
Caddo Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide, including the city of Shreveport. Homes were sporadically damaged across the parish from fallen trees. A large tree fell on a home on Ratcliff Drive in Shreveport, causing extensive structural damage and injuring one person. Trees also fell on homes across various locations in Shreveport including West Montego Lane, Tynneside Way, Burgandy Oaks Drive, Nona Circle, and Centenary Blvd, with a large pine tree falling/crushing a truck on Midvale Drive near Ridgewood Drive. A metal building behind a large church in Meriweather Road near West 70th Street has half of its roof peeled off. The shoulder of Interstate 20 at Exit 5 in Greenwood was flooded.
Bossier Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Homes were sporadically damaged across the parish from fallen trees.
DeSoto Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. A metal roof was damaged on a home in Mansfield.
Red River Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Bienville Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Webster Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Over 220 reports of incidents from trees down across the parish. The roof was partially blown off of the El Jimador restaurant in Minden.
Claiborne Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Lincoln Parish: Scattered tree damage across most of the parish with more sporadic damage across the western portions of the parish. Tree damage mostly occurred from uprooted trees, with some tree trunks snapped. A tree was blown down onto a home in Ruston. The awning of an Exxon gas station was blown off along Highway 167 north of Ruston. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Union Parish: Numerous trees and power lines were down parishwide. Power outages to more than 90 percent of parish residents.
Ouachita Parish: Numerous trees and power lines down parishwide. Power outages to nearly 80 percent of parish residents. Some trees fell on homes in West Monroe and Monroe. The awning at a Chevron gas station in West Monroe was significantly damaged. The damage and power outages led to the cancellation of classes at the University of Louisiana-Monroe for the following week.
Jackson Parish: Numerous trees were down across the parish, particularly across the southern portion of the parish and to exposed areas along Caney Creek Reservoir in the Jimmie Davis State Park. One tree fell into a single wide mobile home and killed a 51 year old male on Ayres Loop in Jonesboro. The sustained winds bent trees and the brief stronger winds gusts helped contribute to the tree snaps in the Jimmie Davis State Park. The tree falls generally ranged from the southwest to west-southwest. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Caldwell Parish: Multiple trees and power lines down on Highway 4 West between Wiles Road and Mount Pleasant Road, as well as others areas throughout the parish.
Winn Parish: Scattered to widespread tree damage across the parish, particularly across the central and western portions of the parish which were impacted by the eastern edge of Laura's center of circulation. The tree damage in Winnfield was significant with mostly uproots and some snaps. A few incidents of structural roof damage not caused by downed trees was observed. The tree fall ranged from the northwest to the southwest. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
La Salle Parish: Scattered to numerous tree damage throughout the parish. A few incidents of structural damage not caused by downed trees were observed in Jena. The Jena High School Gymnasium lost a significant portion of its roofing material, with some damage to signs in front of the school. The awning covering a portion of the parking lot of a local Jena business was destroyed. Trees were also blown down onto homes and vehicles in Jena. The tree fall ranged from the northwest to northeast as the center of Laura's circulation passed just west of the parish. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Grant Parish: Scattered to widespread tree damage in the parish, particularly across the central and western portions of the parish which were impacted by the eastern edge of Laura's circulation. A few incidents of structural damage not caused by downed trees were observed, particularly around Dry Prong where a cluster of metal building systems lost a significant portion of roof panels. The most concentrated tree damage (and related home and electrical infrastructure damage related to tree fall) occurred between Dry Prong and the Bentley community along Rob Wallace Road. The tree fall ranged from the west through the northeast, suggesting wind damage was occurring both preceding and in wake of Laura's center of circulation. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.
Natchitoches Parish:Scattered to widespread tree damage in the parish, particularly across the southern and eastern portions of the parish which were impacted by the northern and eastern edge of Laura's center of circulation. The most concentrated damage observed was in Cloutierville and Natchez and locations between these communities along the Cane River. In Cloutierville, hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted around many homes. In Natchez, most trees were uprooted, while some were snapped. The roof was blown off of the Police Dept. in Robeline. Interstate 49 was closed near Highway 174 due to a fallen tree across the interstate at mile marker 154. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents. Widespread flooding was reported across much of the parish. Widespread flooding was observed across many areas of the parish.
Sabine Parish: Scattered tree damage across most of the parish with more widespread damage across the southeastern corner of the parish and exposed areas to the open waters of Toledo Bend Reservoir in the far southwest part of the parish. Damage included snapped trees, roof damage to an apartment complex, and clusters of uprooted trees. The tree fall throughout the parish ranged from south to south-southeast. Power outages to nearly 100 percent of parish residents.