Hurricane (Typhoon) — East Cameron, Louisiana

2020-08-26 to 2020-08-27 · East Cameron, Louisiana

Event narrative

There was a mandatory evacuation for the parish. Many trees and most power lines were blown down across the parish. All of the parish was without power and water immediately after the storm. Homes and businesses were damaged from trees falling on them or from the winds. Property south of the Intracoastal Waterway was flooded or destroyed by storm surge. The storm surge at Rutherford Beach and Creole was approximately 21 feet NAVD88 and dropped rapidly westward. The surge at Cameron was 9.19 MHHW. Wind gusts generally ranged from 90 to 150 mph across eastern Cameron Parish.

Wider weather episode

A 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. Outer bands spread inland during the afternoon of the 26th and it made landfall at Cameron at 1AM local time on the 27th as the first category 4 hurricane to landfall in Southwest Louisiana and the strongest Louisiana hurricane since 1856. The highest storm surge to ever be recorded also occurred from Laura which was approximately 21 feet at Rutherford Beach and Creole. Damages totaled roughly $10.7 Billion and 27 fatalities occurred.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 917454. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.