Hurricane Laura: Damage in Southeast Texas, Louisiana, Bolivar Peninsula

HOUSTON — As the sun comes up and Hurricane Laura starts to weaken, we are starting to get a glimpse of the damage caused by the dangerous storm. 

Hurricane Laura made landfall at 1 a.m. Thursday in southwestern Louisiana near Cameron as a category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. At about 5:40 a.m. Thursday, Laura weakened to a Category 2 hurricane as it slammed deeper into Lousiana. 

KHOU 11 Reporter Janelle Bludua drove to Orange County early Thursday morning to assess the damage. Orange was on the east side of the storm’s landfall, but still saw plenty of damage and high water. 

There were trees and several power poles down in some neighborhoods. There was also some street flooding, but it appears water stayed on the roads and didn’t get inside homes. 

As of 8 a.m., approximately 70,000 people in Southeast Texas were without power.

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On Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island, things were pretty calm and the damage was minimal. 

On Highway 87 on Bolivar Peninsula, rocks from the Gulf were washed along the road, making the path to get in and out of Bolivar impassable. Though, TxDOT was out early in the morning to clear out the rocks. 

As of 8 a.m., Highway 87 is passable and residents are allowed to drive back to Bolivar.

At this time, there are no reports of power outages or major street flooding on Bolivar Peninsula or Galveston Island.

We’re still waiting to see the extent of damage in Louisiana, but there are reports of buildings and casinos that were damaged overnight.