OREANDA-NEWSHurricane Laura, which has increased to the penultimate category, hit the United States, the National Hurricane Warning Center (NHC) said. Earlier, "Laura" received the fourth category on a five-point scale.

The NHC said that Hurricane Laura, which reached an extremely dangerous Category 4, struck the territory of Cameron County in Louisiana.

Certain areas of Louisiana are experiencing "catastrophic storm surges, hurricane winds and floods," according to the center, with maximum wind speeds reaching 240 kilometers per hour.

Poweroutage.com reports that over 190,000 users in Texas and Louisiana have been cut off by Hurricane Laura.

According to him, in Louisiana, electricity was cut off in more than 159 thousand homes and businesses, in Texas 31 791 consumers were left without electricity.

The number of blackouts has continued to rise since the storm hit land.

A tropical storm is named when the accompanying wind reaches 62 kilometers per hour. For a hurricane to be assigned the first category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which evaluates potential damage from the elements, its wind speed must exceed 120 kilometers per hour. If the wind speed exceeds 150 kilometers per hour, the hurricane category will be increased to the second, at 180 - to the third, at 210 - to the fourth. The fifth, most "dangerous" category is assigned to hurricanes with wind speeds over 250 kilometers per hour.