Hurricane Laura is now expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, according to the latest advisory from the United States National Hurricane Center issued on Wednesday.
Laura is currently forecast to produce "life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds, and flash flooding" across the eastern coast of Texas and Louisiana later in the day.
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate earlier this week as the storm made its way through the Caribbean, where it has already killed at least 20 people.
