Hurricane Laura rapidly gained strength on Wednesday, forecast to become a ''catastrophic'' Category 4 hurricane before striking Texas and Louisiana. Officials implored coastal residents to flee before it's too late.
Satellite images show Laura's remarkable intensification into ''a formidable hurricane" that can smash homes and sink entire communities, ''and there are no signs it will stop soon," the National Hurricane Center said. ''Some areas, when they wake up Thursday morning, they're not going to believe what happened,'' said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist.