Hurricane Laura
One of the tropical cyclone disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $28 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($23 billion at the time) and 42 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 45 most significant tropical cyclone episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $28 billion
- Losses at the time
- $23 billion
- Deaths
- 42
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 50 | 24 | 2 | $11 billion |
| Texas | 25 | 6 | 18 | $1.7 billion |
| Wisconsin | 15 | 0 | 0 | $808,000 |
| Arkansas | 86 | 0 | 0 | $688,000 |
| Connecticut | 31 | 0 | 1 | $632,000 |
| New York | 50 | 1 | 1 | $214,000 |
| Arizona | 15 | 0 | 0 | $203,000 |
| South Dakota | 52 | 0 | 0 | $199,000 |
| West Virginia | 17 | 0 | 0 | $180,000 |
| Mississippi | 14 | 0 | 0 | $145,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 15 | 0 | 0 | $95,000 |
| New Mexico | 5 | 0 | 0 | $62,000 |
| Tennessee | 13 | 0 | 0 | $45,000 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 0 | 0 | $26,000 |
| Alabama | 29 | 0 | 0 | $1,000 |
| Colorado | 1 | 0 | 0 | $1,000 |
| Michigan | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| Virginia | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maryland | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Jersey | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Guam | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Arkansas, August 26 to 28, 2020Tropical Storm Laura moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, LA, around 1200 AM CST on August 27, 2020 with 150 mph sustained winds! This part of the state had never experienced such a powerful (Category 4) hurricane.
- Flash Flood in Alabama, August 26, 2020Several rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall repeatedly moved across Franklin County late on the night of August 25th into the overnight hours of August 26th.
- Flash Flood in Texas, August 26, 2020An inverted trough aloft developed over portions of extreme Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and Southeast Oklahoma during the early morning hours of August 26th, ahead of Hurricane Laura as it tracked north towards the Southwest Louisiana coast.
- Storm Surge in Texas, August 26 to 27, 2020Hurricane Laura made landfall along the southwest Louisiana coast. The hurricane brought high surf, elevated tides and some winds and wind gusts to tropical storm force along the SE Texas coast.
- Tornado in Louisiana, August 26, 2020Hurricane Laura spawned a tornado while it tracked west across the northern Gulf of Mexico.
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Louisiana, August 26 to 27, 2020A tropical wave emerged off of Africa during August 16 and then developed into a depression by the 20th. The system gradually became better organized as it passed across the Greater Antilles. It entered the Gulf of Mexico and became a hurricane on the 25th.
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Texas, August 26 to 27, 2020A tropical wave emerged off of Africa during August 16 and then developed into a depression by the 20th. The system gradually became better organized as it passed across the Greater Antilles. It entered the Gulf of Mexico and became a hurricane on the 25th.
- Storm Surge in Texas, August 26 to 27, 2020As Hurricane Laura traversed northward across the Gulf of Mexico in late August, outgoing swell propagated into the lower Texas coastal waters on August 27th.
- Flash Flood in Guam, August 27, 2020A disturbance within a weak monsoon brought heavy to torrential rains to central and southern Guam, resulting in flash floods.
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Louisiana, August 27, 2020Major 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…
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Texas, August 27, 2020Major 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…
- Tropical Storm in Louisiana, August 27, 2020Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Louisiana coast near Lake Charles in the early morning hours of August 27. It moved north into Central Louisiana during the morning and afternoon before turning to the northeast and tracking through Arkansas.
- Tropical Storm and Flash Flooding in Mississippi, August 27 to 28, 2020Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Louisiana coast near Lake Charles in the early morning hours of August 27. It moved north into Central Louisiana during the morning and afternoon before turning to the northeast and tracking through Arkansas.
- Tropical Storm and Flash Flood in Arkansas, August 27, 2020Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Louisiana coast near Lake Charles in the early morning hours of August 27. It moved north into Central Louisiana during the morning and afternoon before turning to the northeast and tracking through Arkansas.
- Tropical Storm in Arkansas, August 27, 2020Major 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…
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, August 27, 2020A warm front lifting slowly northward across Connecticut and into Massachusetts helped trigger a few marginally severe thunderstorms in western and central Massachusetts in the early afternoon.
- Tornado and Hail in New York, August 27, 2020Severe thunderstorms developed along a warm front during the afternoon of the 27th. Two of these storms became quite intense as they tracked from the northern Catskills through the Mid-Hudson Valley and into the Taconics.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Connecticut, August 27, 2020A pair of supercell thunderstorms tracked through Litchfield County along a warm front during the afternoon of the 27th. These storms resulted in numerous damage reports, especially in the area from Kent to Woodbury.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Alabama, August 27 to 28, 2020Tropical Cyclone Laura moved inland over southwest Louisiana and tracked northeast along the Mississippi River. Several convective outer bands on the east side of Laura produced severe storms over Central Alabama.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Connecticut, August 27, 2020An upper level disturbance in close proximity to a departing warm front triggered numerous severe thunderstorms across Northern New Jersey. A tornado touched down in Bethany to North Haven in New Haven County.
- Tornado and Hail in New York, August 27, 2020An upper level disturbance in close proximity to a departing warm front triggered numerous severe thunderstorms across Southeastern New York. These storms produced a tornado in Montgomery, NY in Orange County.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, August 27, 2020Tropical moisture from the remnants of Marco and Laura led to showers and thunderstorms on the 27th. Multiple rounds of rain resulted in a narrow swath of 2 to almost 5 inches of rain across the foothills of West Virginia.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Wisconsin, August 27 to 28, 2020Several rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rain occurred across portions of western Wisconsin during the early morning of August 28th. These storms were centered along and north of Interstate 94 from Monroe County southeast through Adams County.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, August 27, 2020Powerful Hurricane Laura struck the Gulf Coast on August 26, 2020. The remnants of Laura moved through the Mid-South on August 27th and August 28th.
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, August 27 to 28, 2020A stalled front followed by an approaching low pressure area and cold front led to 17 to 21 hours of strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall over portions of central and southern WI.
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Mississippi, August 27 to 28, 2020Powerful Hurricane Laura struck the Gulf Coast on August 26, 2020. The remnants of Laura moved through the Mid-South on August 27th and August 28th.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, August 27 to 28, 2020Severe thunderstorms developed in western South Dakota during the evening of the 27th before traveling east across all of South Dakota into the early morning hours on the 28th.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, August 27 to 28, 2020A mid-level disturbance moving from Wyoming into South Dakota initiated late evening convection in an environment with around 2000 J/kg MLCAPE and deep-layer shear of around 50 knots. Storms expanded and rapidly evolved into a large-scale bow echo.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Michigan, August 28, 2020A very moist and unstable airmass accompanying a stalled stationary boundary resulted in multiple rounds of thunderstorms beginning during the early morning hours of August 28, 2020 and continuing into the evening hours.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Pennsylvania, August 28, 2020On August 28th, a weak crossing surface low and an advancing upper trough helped to create additional thunderstorms, which were also aided by deep tropical moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Laura. Two waves of thunderstorms occurred on this day.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Alabama, August 28, 2020Several miniature supercells and clusters of thunderstorms affected the area beginning during the late morning of the 28th and lasting through the afternoon. Two tornadoes occurred with these storms in Cullman and Morgan Counties.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, August 28, 2020After making landfall in southwest Louisiana on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Hurricane Laura moved northward into Arkansas and weakened to a tropical storm on Thursday, August 27, then traveled eastward across Tennessee and Kentucky and weakened further to a tropical depression…
- Flooding and Hail in West Virginia, August 28 to 29, 2020On August 28th, a weak crossing surface low and an advancing upper trough helped to create additional thunderstorms, which were also aided by deep tropical moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Laura. Two waves of thunderstorms occurred on this day.
- Flash Flooding in Louisiana, August 28, 2020While the remnants of Hurricane Laura moved well north of the local area, feeder bands continued to produce bands of training thunderstorms in southeast Louisiana.
- Flooding in Virginia, August 28 to 29, 2020A few showers and storms led to isolated instances of flooding.
- Flooding in Arkansas, August 28 to 31, 2020Remnants of Hurricane Laura brought heavy rain to much of Arkansas. Heavy rain caused flooding on the White and Cache Rivers.
- Flooding in Maryland, August 29 to 30, 2020A few showers and storms led to isolated instances of flooding.
- Flash Flood in Maryland, August 29, 2020Scattered thunderstorms associated with a trough of low pressure produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of the Lower Maryland Eastern Shore.
- Flash Flooding in New Jersey, August 29, 2020Showers and thunderstorms associated with the remnants of Hurricane Laura brought locally heavy rain to southwestern New Jersey during the morning and early afternoon of August 29. Rainfall totals as high as 3 to 5 inches were reported.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Arkansas, August 29 to 31, 2020The heat/humidity energized the environment on the 29th, and this happened as a cold front slowly approached from Missouri. Ahead of the front, strong to severe thunderstorms popped up in northern Arkansas in the afternoon.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Arizona, August 29 to 30, 2020The monsoon high broke down over Arizona late in August with a trough setting up over the southwest U.S. leading to southwest flow over the state. Tropical moisture was able to push up the Gulf of California into Arizona under this setup.
- Flash Flood and Hail in New Mexico, August 29, 2020A backdoor cold front that moved through eastern and central New Mexico late August 28, 2020, replenished low-level moisture across the plains.
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, August 29, 2020Thunderstorms developed over portions of eastern New York during the afternoon of the 29th. A couple of these storms produced hail up to ping pong ball size.
- Flash Flood in Colorado, August 29, 2020Isolated thunderstorms developed in eastern Colorado during the late afternoon hours. One thunderstorm that moved over Yuma, CO produced 0.83 inches of heavy rain in 20 minutes causing flash flooding in town.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Arizona, August 29, 2020Scattered thunderstorms developed and moved northeast across southeast Arizona during the afternoon and evening. One storm produced wind damage at Marana High School and another produced flash flooding over the Bighorn Fire burn scar.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2020The 2020 hurricane seasonTornadoes in 2020
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.