PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (TX) Texas impacts from Category 4 Hurricane Laura

Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:50:08 EDT

Summary: The USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center deployed 11 storm surge sensors from Lavaca Bay to Sea Rim State Park (near Sabine Pass) and will be recovering them as soon as conditions allow.

The USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center deployed 11 storm surge sensors from Lavaca Bay to Sea Rim State Park (near Sabine Pass) and will be recovering them as soon as conditions allow.

So far, there is no indication of east Texas riverine flooding (no major, moderate, or minor flooding) at USGS streamgages. There was nominal impact to the vast majority of the streamgaging network, which worked well documenting the hurricane. Only one streamgage was affected and is not reporting, gage verification is pending.

Category 4 Hurricane Laura (now Category 1) landfall was near Cameron, Louisiana (150 MPH sustained winds) and has moved inland over west-central Louisiana this morning. Texas impacts include evacuations, wind damage, power loss, and 9-11 inches of rainfall recorded along the TX/LA border as Laura tracks northward (rainfall is still occurring. Storm surge was ~2-5 feet along the coast and thirty-six counties were under a disaster proclamation August 23, 2020.

USGS does not have staff in east Texas at this time as no streamflow measurements are currently needed and streamgages are operating properly but staff stand ready to deploy. Two staff are working in the field in the Houston area (non-storm response) near the Woodlands office. Storm related responses will likely begin tomorrow with storm-surge sensor retrieval.

USGS is in contact with the National Weather Service along with federal, state, and local agencies.