Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall On US Gulf Coast
(Photo : Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Anthony Vincent and Mary Vincent use their boat to save coolers of food that they retrieved from a freezer in their home August 29, 2020 in Little Chenier, Louisiana. Hurricane Laura made landfall on August 27th, bringing rain and high winds to the southeast region of the state, reaching wind speeds of 150 mph and a 9-12 feet storm surge.

Hurricane Laura came with strong winds that appeared to be strong enough to reverse many waterways, including the Mississippi and Neches River flow, as it approached land.

River flow usually goes to the Gulf, but Laura had strong winds that blew the top layer of water upriver, so river flow was going away from the Gulf instead, reported CTV News.

Hurricane Laura made it to shore as a Category 4 storm on early Tuesday near Texas's state line. It ripped off roofs and damaged buildings, robbing hundreds of thousands of power.

Hurricane Laura gained 150-mph winds when it made landfall last week near the Texas and Louisiana border, said a Fox News report.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported Friday that the storm's whipping winds pushed so much wind ahead of it.

River Flow Rate Was High

A USGC stream gage read that Neches reached a flow rate of about 15,000 cubic feet per second when Laura brought heavy rains to the coast. The reading was done just as the storm made landfall.

But after the storm roared east of Beaumont, all of the water and wind that it pushed ashore caused the river to slow down and, then, reverse flow.

Upriver, the river reached a flow rate of 7,600 cubic feet per second, said a New York Post article.

USGS said this flow rate could "fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about in about 12 seconds."

After about 12 hours, the Neches River flow went back to its normal direction.

The same effect that Hurricane Laura had on Neches was also reported on the Mississippi River. There, barges had to fight the tides as they went downriver due to the whipping winds that pushed water backward.

A tweeted video even documented this barge fighting against the flow of the water flowing inland.

Not the First Time River Flow was Backwards

According to USGS, this is not the first time Neches River flowed backward. They noted that the event also took place in 2007 when Hurricane Ike came ashore.

In 2008, the river flowed at a much faster rate with 30,000 cubic feet per second upriver. This can fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about three seconds.

This is also not the first time the Mississippi River flowed backward. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit, the river flow was also reversed.

In 2012, strong winds and storm surge from Hurricane Isaac's landfall also made the river flow in a different direction for 24 hours, said USGS.

The U.S. death toll from the Category 4 Hurricane Laura rose to 16 on Saturday. Most of the victims died by a carbon monoxide poising from the unsafe operation of generators.

President Trump toured the damage caused by Hurricane Laura on Saturday.

Mississippi River is the second-largest river in North America, spanning 2,350 miles. It starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, the Neches River spans 416 miles. Neches also feeds into the Gulf of Mexico, beginning in East Texas.

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