Nearly 470,000 homes, businesses without power in Texas, Louisiana following Hurricane Laura

Power companies are reporting that nearly 470,000 homes and businesses were without electricity early Thursday in Louisiana and Texas following the landfall of Hurricane Laura.

PowerOutage.US, which tracks utility reports, is reporting the Texas counties of Orange and Jefferson and several Lousiana counties in the path of the now-Category 2 storm are experiencing thousands of outages.

New Orleans-based Entergy said shortly before the storm struck that the hardest-hit areas may experience outages for weeks.

Laura has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane as it moves deeper into Louisiana

The company says it has crews coming from 20 states to help, including some from as far away as Wisconsin and Virginia.

Stick with KSAT 12 News on-air and online for the latest updates.

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