Texas Gov. Abbott: No immediate reports of death in hours after Hurricane Laura struck

Gov. Greg Abbott said up to 10,000 Texans have evacuated and some 100,000 are without power.

AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, appearing Thursday morning on NBC’s Today show, said the Lone Star State had no reported fatalities in the initial hours after the Laura struck but said emergency workers were “still going through the ravages of the storm.”

“We had well over 5,000, maybe up to 10,000 people who did evacuate, especially around those regions where the hurricane came across shore,” Abbott said. “I have no doubt that because of the evacuations that did take place, that reduced the loss of life.”

As many as 100,000 Texans were without power, he added. Search and rescue operations were ongoing.

“This is, unfortunately, not our first rodeo in dealing with something like this,” Abbott said. “We are not yet out of the woods.”

This is a developing report. Please check back for updates.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.

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