Forecasters predict Hurricane Laura will strengthen significantly and slash the Texas and Louisiana coasts with winds as high as 115 mph and storm surge of up to 11 feet. At its current speed the hurricane should make landfall Wednesday night into Thursday morning as a category 3 storm. From NPR:

“Laura was declared a hurricane Tuesday morning, when a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft detected maximum sustained winds of 75 mph as the storm’s center was crossing into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s expected to draw more power from the gulf’s warm waters.“

Officials in Galveston, Texas have ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city’s 50,000 residents.