(Bloomberg) -- Laura made landfall near Cameron in Louisiana as one of the region's worst hurricanes in history, threatening to devastate the U.S. Gulf Coast with catastrophic storm surges, flash floods and powerful winds that could leave areas uninhabitable for weeks or months.
See also: Laura to Rival Strongest-Ever Louisiana Storm: Hurricane Update
The storm came ashore with maximum winds of 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. Laura is strong enough to rip down houses, uproot trees and cause power outages that could last weeks or even months. The storm is set to push a wall of water more than 20 feet (6.1 meters) high in some places on to shore, with potentially deadly effects.
Laura is the seventh storm to strike the U.S. this year, the most on record for this point in the hurricane season. The last major hurricane to slam the Gulf Coast was Michael in 2018. In 2017, Texas was hit by Harvey, which killed 68 people and became the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
More than 431,810 homes with a reconstruction cost of $88.6 billion are at risk from Laura's storm surge, according to data provider CoreLogic.
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