Wednesday August 26, 2020

// August 26th, 2020 // Daily News

Hurricane Laura is now forecast to intensify to a catastrophic Category 4 as it nears U.S. Gulf Coast

  • Forecasters Hurricane Laura is now expected to rapidly power up into a ‘catastrophic’ Category 4 hurricane — an even stronger storm than previously expected — as it churns toward Texas and Louisiana.
  • Laura’s maximum sustained winds have increased to near 110 mph with higher gusts, forecasters said.
  • More than half a million people were ordered to flee the Gulf Coast on Tuesday as Laura strengthened into a hurricane that forecasters said could slam Texas and Louisiana with ferocious winds, heavy flooding and the power to push seawater miles inland.

Hurricane Laura is forecast to rapidly power up into a “catastrophic” Category 4 hurricane, even stronger than previously expected, as it churns toward Texas and Louisiana, gathering wind and water that swirls over much of the Gulf of Mexico.

Satellite images show that Laura has become “a formidable hurricane” in recent hours, threatening to smash homes and sink entire communities. It has undergone a remarkable intensification, “and there are no signs it will stop soon,” the National Hurricane Center said in an update early Wednesday.

“Some areas when they wake up Thursday morning, they’re not going to believe what happened,” Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center, said Wednesday.

“We could see storm surge heights more than 15 feet in some areas,” Stewart said. “What doesn’t get blown down by the wind could easily get knocked down by the rising ocean waters pushing well inland.”

Laura has grown nearly 70% in power in just 24 hours, with maximum sustained winds increasing to 110 mph (175 kph) with higher gusts, forecasters said early Wednesday.

“We are expecting widespread power outages, trees down. Homes and businesses will be damaged,” said Donald Jones, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is near the bullseye of Laura’s forecast track.

“I’m telling you, this is going to be a very serious situation,” Jones said.

A Category 4 hurricane will do catastrophic damage: “Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months,” the weather service says.

 

Today’s Inspiration

Pray and Obey

Some of what God asks you to do will be fun and exciting. Other things He says may not be so thrilling, but that doesn’t mean they won’t work out for your good if you’ll simply follow His instructions. If God tells you that you need to apologize because you were rude to someone, it won’t work for you to reply, “Well, that person was rude to me, too!” If you respond to Him with excuses, you may have prayed and even heard God’s voice, but you didn’t obey, so you forfeited the blessing you would have had.

Looking back at more than three decades of walking with God and being in ministry, I have to say that the simplest explanation for the success Dave and I have enjoyed is that we’ve become quick to pray, hear from God, and then do what He tells us to do. Over the years, as I’ve sought God and pressed forward in what He’s told me to do, I can say that more than anything else, I’ve learned to simply pray and obey. Doing this hasn’t always been popular, but it has worked!

If you want to experience God’s plan for your life, I can give you the recipe in its most basic form: pray and obey. God has given you the capacity to do both, and if you do it consistently, you’ll be moving right along in His will for your life, and His blessing will follow you everywhere you go (see Deuteronomy 28:1-14 NIV).

Prayer Starter:Father, please help me be quick to obey Your instructions. I know You have good plans for me, and I don’t want to miss out on any of them. Thank You for your grace! In Jesus’ Name, amen.

 

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