Laura weakened as it moved inland, but remained destructive, with strong winds and heavy rain, and the potential to spawn deadly tornadoes. The first confirmed US death from the storm was that of a 14-year-old girl in Leesville, Louisiana, a small city about 100 miles inland. According to the Louisiana governor’s office, the girl was killed when a tree fell on her family’s home. Utility companies reported that about 404,000 customers in Louisiana and another 104,000 in Texas were without power Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. A Louisiana State Police emergency unit was responding to a “hazardous material incident” at the site, according to Robert Fontenot, a police official.

Source: bd News24 August 27, 2020 18:11 UTC