Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Marco head towards Gulf Coast

PHOTO CREDITS: NOAA/AP

According to CNN, two major storms are heading towards the Gulf Coast: Marco and Laura. ~

Marco, originally characterized as a hurricane, had been downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday night, but Laura experienced the opposite effect, being upgraded to a hurricane Tuesday afternoon. Marco is currently facing unfavorable conditions that make it unlikely to return to hurricane strength, said CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford. And though Marco was expected to reach Louisiana with a grazing landfall by Monday evening or Tuesday morning, the storm seems to be fizzling out while moving parallel to the coastline, Shackelford said. Meanwhile, Hurricane Laura, which has already proven deadly in the Dominican Republic, is getting stronger in the warm waters of the Caribbean. By Wednesday, Laura could reach Louisiana as a Category 2 storm. ~

Monday morning, Tropical Storm Marco was about 150 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm is moving at 12 mph toward the river’s mouth, according to the National Hurricane Center. Additionally, then Tropical Storm Laura was about 60 miles south of Camaguey, Cuba, and had sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm was moving west-northwest at 21 mph. ~

Before Marco had been weakened, mandatory evacuations were issued for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and Grand Isle, Louisiana on Sunday. Recently, hurricane warnings have been discontinued for Marco and have been changed to tropical storm warnings. The opposite is projected for Laura, however, as Laura had parts of Cayman, Cuba and the Florida Keys under tropical storm watches and warnings, with hurricane warnings expected to be issued later Tuesday. ~

Due to the danger of the upcoming storms, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency. Afterward, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration Sunday for Louisiana. The declaration allows Louisiana to obtain aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to supplement local efforts in response to Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura (New Orleans Advocate) ~

ARTICLE: KYLE SMITH

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