LITTLE ROCK - More than 5,900 Entergy Arkansas customers in the southwest part of the state were without power late Thursday morning as Hurricane Laura began moving into the state.
Wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph were reported in El Dorado. Heavy rain, flooding and isolated tornadoes are expected as the storm weakens and moves northeast through the state. Schools across the state have closed or dismissed students in early in anticipation of unsafe conditions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved an emergency declaration for all Arkansas counties, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced.
Laura made landfall overnight in southwestern Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, swamping a low-lying coast with ocean water that forecasters said could be 20 feet deep and unsurvivable.
Nearly 470,000 homes and businesses in the Gulf Coast were without power.
