Storm Laura, which was upgraded to the category of Hurricane Laura, is likely to make landfall along the Texas or Louisiana coastline on Wednesday night. The storm has already caused 20 deaths in Haiti.

The US National Hurricane Centre reported that “Laura has become a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), with higher gusts”, adding ,“Significant strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Laura is expected to be a major hurricane at landfall.” 

It also said that the storm would be accompanied by large and destructive waves in places and up to 12 inches of rain could cause flash flooding.

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The storm severely damaged Cuba and unleashed heavy rain and coastal flooding. It also killed at least 20 people, including a baby and an eight-year-old child in Haiti.

The storm also killed four people in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo.

Authorities stated that high winds tore off tin roofs and uprooted trees. 160,000 people from the Guantanomo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, and Camaguey were evacuated.

Laura was the 12th storm in this year’s Atlantic storm season, with Hurricane Centre predicting as many as 25 named storms for the year.

Heavy rainfall and flash flooding also hit Jamaica and Cayman Islands. In Petionville, near the Haiti capital Port-au-Prince, torrents of brown water rushing down from mountains caused major damage.

“I didn’t know there was bad weather forecast. We don’t often have electricity in my neighborhood so I couldn’t follow the news on the radio,” Sony Joseph told AFP.