Hurricane Laura was downgraded again to a tropical storm early Thursday afternoon, as Texas federal, state and local officials breathed a sigh of relief that they avoided a direct blow from the storm and offered support for parts of Louisiana dealing with the hurricane’s worst effects.
As of early Thursday afternoon the city of Orange appeared to be the hardest hit in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said during a news conference with the city’s mayor and the county judge. Abbott, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick toured the damage path via helicopter earlier in the day.
“You saw more rooftops ripped off, you saw more shingles missing, you saw more trees down [in Orange],” Abbott said. “You saw some roads that were still inundated under water, impassible at this particular time.”
Abbott said he anticipated reports of additional heavy damage as residents made their way back home but said Texans should consider themselves lucky that previous dire forecasts didn’t materialize.
“As I asked everybody how they feel about working their way through this hurricane everyone pretty much had the same phrase, and that is: ‘We dodged a bullet,'” he said. “It could have been far worse, we were anticipating and it was prognosticated that there would be a storm surge that could very easily exceed 10 feet.”
The surge was closer to three feet, Abbott said and praised local government leaders for their preparedness.
“One thing that saved lives was evacuation orders that were made by local officials. And it was so important for local residents to heed those local warnings,” he said.
But Abbott said there is still a considerable amount of work to do in the region in the storm’s aftermath.
“While we are grateful that the damage of Hurricane Laura was far less severe than expected, many communities in Southeast Texas have experienced significant damage from this storm — and the State of Texas is already initiating recovery efforts and ensuring these communities have the support they need to rebuild,” he said in a statement after the news conference.
More than 100,000 Texans were out of power in the East Texas counties of Jefferson, Orange and Hardin, local media reported Thursday morning. Abbott later said that there were more than 160,000 power outages throughout the region by the afternoon. Nearly 8,500 people were provided temporary shelter throughout the state with more than 3,000 hotel rooms used for that purpose.
“Those efforts will continue as long as needed,” Abbott said. He said a timeline on when local residents can return home will be determined by local officials. But some areas, including Beaumont and Galveston, lifted their evacuation orders as early as Thursday morning.
The storm moved ashore in Cameron Parish, Louisiana — which borders Texas — around midnight Thursday after almost strengthening into a Category 5 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Even before Abbott’s visit to the area, officials there were sounding optimistic that their corner of the state had escaped the worst of the hurricane’s impact.
“I’m very pleased to report the damage to Southeast Texas was minimal. We really dodged a bullet,” state Rep. Dade Phelan, a Republican who represents part of Jefferson County and all of neighboring Orange County, tweeted Thursday morning. “Prayers for our friends in the Southwest Louisiana.”
In Newton County, by the border with Louisiana, County Judge Kenneth Weeks said that Hurricane Laura knocked down trees, blocking roads and major highways. Some areas received minor flooding and power is out in most of the county as of Thursday morning. Crews are working to clear the roads.
