As Hurricane Laura approached, half a million people were told to leave the area in case of storm surges but the effects of the storm were not as bad as were feared. There were widespread power cuts to around half a million homes and the strong wind speeds caused damage to buildings and vehicles. Six people are known to have died, four from falling trees, one from a boat that sank and one from carbon monoxide poisoning. There was also a chemical fire at an industrial plant. Overall, the storm was less damaging than was expected as it quickly lost its power over land and began to track east. It has now been downgraded to a tropical storm and 1,500 people have moved in to help with the clean up operation.
This is probably one of the first of many storms during America's hurricane season. The UK also saw bad weather this week with Storm Francis bringing heavy rain and unseasonably strong winds of up to 80mph. With climate change continuing to alter weather patterns, it is only looking increasingly likely that we will have more of these storms in the future and will have to look at better ways of mitigating their impacts.
