Around 1am local time, Major Hurricane Laura made landfall at the coast near Cameron, Louisiana, near latitude 29.8 North, longitude 93.3 West, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
Laura is the strongest hurricane on record to strike this part of Louisiana.
Laura is also breaking other records too. Laura is the 7th named storm to make landfall in the Continental U.S. this year, breaking the old record of 6 named storms making landfall by the end of August set in 1886 and 1916. Laura now joins 2020 storms Bertha, Cristobal, Fay, Hanna, Isaias and Marco which all struck the U.S.
There are only 9 hurricanes on record since 1851 that have made landfall on the Continental U.S. with winds of 150 mph or greater. Beyond Laura, the other storms were the Last Island Hurricane of 1856, the Indianola Hurricane of 1886, the Florida Keys Hurricane of 1919, the Freeport Hurricane of 1932, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Camille in 1969, Andrew in 1992, Charley in 2004, and Michael in 2018. The United States only started to name storms in 1953. They were only given female names until 1978.
