Laura roars on after blow to La.

A teenage girl in Leesville, La., was killed by a falling tree onto her home. A 68 year old male was also killed by the effects of Hurricane Laura, which can ashore at 1 a.m. (Thursday) around Camerion, La., as a Category 4 hurricane. Louisiana’s governor did not identify the girl, but that he expects there will be more fatalities. Leesville is about 115 miles north of Cameron. The hurricane came ashore with 150 mph sustained winds. More than 1.5M people were under evacuation orders in Louisiana and east Texas. … Laura has been downgraded to a Cat 1 and moving north into Arkansas, then expected to turn east (Kentucky and Tennessee) through Friday night. (Source: Washington Examiner 08/27/20) Hours after Laura made landfall, a chemical fire was reported about 9 a.m. (Thursday). KIK Custom Products Inc. confirmed the fire at its BioLab chlorine production plant west of Lake Charles. La. The state Department of Environmental Quality is monitoring air quality. Initial readings did not detect chlorine releases, but more testing will be done. BioLab produces chlorine for swimming pools and can produce up to 115M pounds annually of trichloroisocyanuric acid and disodium isocyanurate. Trichloroisocyanuric acid can have a heavy "chlorine" smell. When heated, the material can release toxic fumes and nitrogen oxides, according to PubChem, a database within the National Institutes of Health. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an emergency alert warning to residents of Westlake, Moss Bluff and Sulphur to shelter in place. The Louisiana State Police shut down I-10 from the I-210 exit to the west and the Lakeshore Drive exit at the foot of the bridge over the Calcasieu River. (Source: The AP 08/27/20) South Mississippi and other areas in the state remain under storm advisories and watches as Laura moved inland. Coastal Mississippi escaped the worst of Laura’s damage, but emergency managers are cautioning residents to remain alert for wind gusts that could knock down limbs and water in some low-lying areas of Hancock and Harrison counties. (Source: Sun Herald 08/27/20)