Evacuations

A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crew is engulfed in smoke while tending a backburn near Felton, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, as a CZU Lightning Complex fire continues to burn. (Shmuel Thaler/The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP)
Associated Press
August 27, 2020 - 7:47 pm

50,000 Allowed Back Home As Gains Made On California Fires

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than 50,000 people forced to flee their homes were allowed to return by Thursday night as firefighters made progress in their effort to put out massive and deadly wildfires in Northern California. Officials were working on plans to repopulate other evacuated areas. Cooler...
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Winds blow the smoke from a refinery, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Port Arthur, Texas. The energy industry is bracing for catastrophic storm surges and winds as Hurricane Laura cuts a dangerous path toward the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
August 27, 2020 - 11:55 am

Oil And Gas Industry Assesses Damage At Refineries, Plants

NEW YORK (AP) — The energy industry is assessing damage caused by storm surges and high winds as Hurricane Laura cut a dangerous path across the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana, making landfall early Thursday. Oil and gas producers evacuated platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and companies...
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Crew members of a shrimp boat called the Sea Lion V prepare as they wait for Hurricane Laura to make landfall, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Port Arthur, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Associated Press
August 27, 2020 - 12:27 am

Laura Makes Landfall In Southwestern Louisiana Near Texas

DELCAMBRE, La. (AP) — Hurricane Laura made landfall in southwestern Louisiana as a ferocious Category 4 monster early Thursday, swamping a low-lying coast with ocean water that forecasters said could be 20 feet deep and unsurvivable. The National Hurricane Center said the storm, which intensified...
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This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, at 2:40 p.m. EDT., and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Laura over the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Laura strengthened Wednesday into “an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane," The National Hurricane Center said. Laura is expected to strike Wednesday night into Thursday morning along the Louisiana-Texas border. (NOAA via AP)
August 26, 2020 - 6:18 pm

The Latest:

The Latest on Hurricane Laura (all times local): CAMERON PARISH, La. — At least 150 people refused to evacuate a coastal Louisiana parish that could be covered by ocean water as Hurricane Laura makes landfall, officials said. Officers went door-to-door in Cameron Parish urging the roughly 7,000...
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August 26, 2020 - 4:59 pm

Nursing Homes Juggle Hurricane Evacuations Amid Virus Fears

Dozens of nursing homes evacuated their residents as Hurricane Laura bore down Wednesday, but many others with a choice just stayed put, concluding the risk of breaking their coronavirus lockdowns could be more deadly than the storm. “It is always best if you can remain in an environment that is...
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A thank you sign is posted along Empire Grade Rd. Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif., after the the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire passed by. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
August 26, 2020 - 1:51 pm

Evacuations Lifted Near California Fires, Some Go Home

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people in California returned home Wednesday as cooler weather and an influx of aid helped firefighters gain ground and lift evacuation orders prompted by some of the largest wildfires in state history. Highlighting the unusually early fire season in the state...
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People line up to board buses to evacuate Lake Charles, La., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, ahead of Hurricane Laura. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Associated Press
August 26, 2020 - 11:19 am

Laura Now Forecast To Be A Catastrophic Category 4 Hurricane

DELCAMBRE, La. (AP) — Laura strengthened Wednesday into a menacing Category 4 hurricane, raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be "unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities. Authorities implored coastal residents of Texas and Louisiana to evacuate and...
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People wait in front of the Galveston Housing Authority offices to board charter busses that will evacuate them from Galveston Island to Austin in anticipation of impact from Hurricane Laura, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Galveston. ( Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Associated Press
August 25, 2020 - 8:27 pm

Hundreds Of Thousands Flee Coast Ahead Of Hurricane Laura

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — In the largest U.S. evacuation of the pandemic, 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...
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Following the LNU Lightning Complex fires, a scorched VW Microbus rests in a driveway of the Spanish Flat community in Napa County, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Associated Press
August 24, 2020 - 5:09 pm

California Wildfires: Prepare To Be Away From Home For Days

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California fire officials are cautiously optimistic after dodging a major lightning storm, but they are pleading with residents to stay out of evacuation zones and prepare for days away from home as three massive San Francisco Bay Area wildfires rage on, suffocating the region...
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Cesar Reyes, right, carries a sheet of plywood to cut to size as he and Robert Aparicio, left, and Manuel Sepulveda, not pictured, install window coverings at Strand Brass and Christmas on the Strand, 2115 Strand St., in Galveston on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. Ginger Herter, who manages the shop, was erring on the side of caution boarding up the storefront as she waits to see what path Tropical Storm Laura will take as it heads toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts. "I'd rather do this and have to take them down rather than scramble to get them up later in the week," she said. ( Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
August 24, 2020 - 3:50 pm

Marco Collapses, Sets Stage For Laura To Hit Us As Hurricane

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As Tropical Storm Marco fell apart, the Gulf Coast turned its attention Monday to Laura, another system following just behind that could grow into a supercharged Category 3 hurricane with winds topping 110 mph (177 kph) and a storm surge that could swamp entire towns. Still a...
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