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Hurricane Laura: Gov. Abbott to give update on state's response
The major hurricane is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane before it makes landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.
AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott plans to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. to give an update on the state’s response to Hurricane Laura. You can watch the press conference live in the video above when it starts, or on KVUE’s YouTube, Facebook or Twitter pages.
Laura was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane Tuesday morning. According to meteorologists, Hurricane Laura is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane before it makes landfall along the Louisiana and Texas coasts. It will make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The major hurricane will have winds of around 115 mph, capable of devastating damage.
“The waters are warm enough everywhere there to support a major hurricane, Category 3 or even higher,” said National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport. “The waters are very warm where the storm is now and will be for the entire path up until the Gulf Coast.”
A mandatory evacuation has been issued for all residents in the City of Galveston and on the Bolivar Peninsula. The City said evacuations will be ongoing through the day Tuesday and early Wednesday. City services will be suspended at 12 p.m. Tuesday.
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The City of Austin has an agreement with the City of Galveston to provide shelter during the mandatory evacuation. The city of Austin has confirmed it will take in evacuees from Galveston.
On Sunday, Gov. Abbott declared a State of Disaster for 23 Texas counties ahead of the storms, including the 22 coastal surge counties as designated by the National Weather Service, as well as Bexar County for the purposes of staging and sheltering.
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