Category 4 hurricane Laura makes landfall in Louisiana

Hurricane Laura has made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana as a category 4 storm, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday.

The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour is located about 40 miles (70 km) east of Port Arthur, Texas and is expected to move inland across southwestern Louisiana on Thursday morning, the NHC said.

"Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage" in some areas in Texas and Louisiana, the NHC said, adding that the surge could penetrate up to 48 km inland from the immediate coastline.

"Efforts to protect life and property within the Storm Surge and Hurricane Warning areas should be rushed to completion before storm surge and tropical storm force winds arrive," it added.

Arkansas State has declared an emergency ahead of Hurricane Laura, and prepared funds and rescue teams for the hurricane.

As of Tuesday morning, hurricane warnings were issued for parts of the northwestern Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana. Texas' Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a voluntary evacuation effective immediately.

Some refineries and liquefied natural gas terminals in Texas and Louisiana have shut down.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards suggested people in those warning areas should evacuate as the storm prepared to make landfall.

More than 60 percent of flights to and from Houston's largest airport were canceled on Wednesday as Hurricane Laura neared.

Heavy rainfall might arrive by Friday in some places of Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Following the passage of Laura, Cuba on Tuesday started recovery efforts. Average Cubans joined in the task, clearing debris and cleaning neighborhoods, as brigades of technicians worked to restore electricity and fixed telephone service after the storm knocked down trees and electrical poles.

Laura moved on from Cuba on Monday night near Puerto Esperanza in the northern town of Vinales in western Pinar del Rio province, where some areas still saw heavy rain early Tuesday.

Xinhua-Agencies