Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana near the Texas border early Thursday as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
The storm slammed into Cameron, Louisiana, about 1 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center, which called it an "extremely dangerous" hurricane.
Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles from its center. Laura will move inland Thursday morning and move north across Louisiana through Thursday afternoon.
The National Weather Service has said that devastation could spread far inland in eastern Texas and western Louisiana.
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Laura has made landfall — what's next?
Louisiana governor closes part of Interstate 10
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the state is closing Interstate 10 from around the Atchafalaya Bridge outside of Lafayette all the way into part of Texas, because several stretches within that area are expected to flood.
In a radio interview Wednesday night, Edwards talked of the “apocalyptic” language that meteorologists have used for the storm. “The language I’ve heard from the National Weather Service I’ve never heard before ... They’re sending the strongest possible message about how serious this storm is,” he said.
He talked specifically about concerns in Cameron Parish.
“When people built back after Rita, they routinely built back to 15 feet,” Edwards said. He noted those structures would be overwhelmed.
Edwards said search and rescue efforts will begin Thursday as soon as it’s safe enough for officials to go out into floodwaters.
The scene in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Houston area ready to help Louisiana
The top government official in Harris County, Texas, said that while the Houston area appeared to escaped relatively unscathed by Hurricane Laura, they county stands ready to help Louisiana, where the massive storm made landfall early Thursday.
"Now that we are watching with horror how it is impacting our neighbors to the east, our approach turns to aid," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a phone interview with MSNBC early Thursday.
Hidalgo said first responders from all over the country are in the county to assist with the storm, and they are ready to provide any assistance needed in Louisiana.
Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, on that state's southwestern coast as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph winds around 1 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Laura makes landfall on Louisiana coast
Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, made landfall on the southwestern Louisiana coast early Thursday.
The storm made landfall at 1 a.m. near Cameron, Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said. Catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding were occurring in parts of the state, it said.
Before it officially made landfall, the northern eyewall moved over southwest Louisiana's Cameron Parish, and people still there were warned to take cover immediately.
Nearly 50,000 customers were without power in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes as the eyewall moved onshore, according to utility company Entergy's website.
More than 9,000 customers were without power in Jefferson County in Texas, which is near the Louisiana border, and more than 5,000 were without power in Orange County to the northeast.
Eyewall of Hurricane Laura moving onshore over southwest Louisiana
The northern eyewall of Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm, was moving over southwestern Louisiana's coastal Cameron Parish, the National Hurricane Center said, and people still in the area were told to take cover immediately.
The eyewall was moving onshore southwestern Louisiana, the hurricane center said at midnight local time.
"TAKE COVER NOW! Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to the safe room in your shelter. Take action now to protect your life!" the hurricane center warned.
Catastrophic storm surge and dangerous winds and flash flooding was occurring, the hurricane center said.
Thousands without power in Louisiana as hurricane nears coast
There were power outages affecting more than 13,000 customers in Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish, in the path of Hurricane Laura, as the Category 4 storm approached the coast late Wednesday.
Calcasieu Parish was ordered to evacuate ahead of the hurricane. Utility company Entergy said on its website that there were a little more than 13,000 customers without power in the parish.
In Cameron Parish, more than 1,000 customers were without power. The parish is on the Gulf Coast next to the Texas border.
Extreme wind warnings in Texas, Louisiana as Laura closes in on coast
Anyone left in some areas of Texas and Louisiana, including Port Arthur and Lake Charles, were told to treat imminent winds from Hurricane Laura as a tornado and to seek shelter immediately.
The National Weather Service said there was an "extreme wind warning" in effect as Laura, a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, closed in on the coast.
The National Hurricane Center said at midnight ET that the hurricane's eyewall was nearing the coast of Louisiana. The storm will bring catastrophic storm surge as well as extreme winds and flash flooding, forecasters warned. The storm surge has been called "unsurvivable."