At least four people have been killed by falling trees as Hurricane Laura battered the US state of Louisiana.
Winds of up to 150mph (240km/h) caused severe damage, with power cuts to more than half a million homes and a chemical fire from an industrial plant.
But the feared 20ft (6m) storm surge was avoided as the hurricane, the state’s biggest, tracked further east.
Laura has now been downgraded to tropical storm status and has crossed into Arkansas.
President Donald Trump was briefed at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) in Washington and said he would go to the area at the weekend.
He said he had been prepared to postpone his speech at the Republican National Convention later on Thursday to travel to the region but added: “We got a bit lucky. It was very big and very powerful but it passed quickly.”
Laura and another storm, Marco, earlier swept across the Caribbean, killing 24 people.
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Governor John Bel Edwards gave a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, confirming four deaths so far from the hurricane.
The victims, killed in separate incidents by trees falling on their homes, included a 14-year-old girl in the Leesville area.
Mr. Edwards said that as rescue work continued, “I’m concerned we are going to find more fatalities. I hope and pray not.”
He said there was more structural damage from winds than anticipated, but the water damage was less than feared.
The tracking of the storm slightly further east meant it avoided creating a storm surge in the shipping channel, he said.
Power lines, roads and bridges were a big concern, he said, with many having to be repaired or checked.
A barge had collided with a bridge in the city of Lake Charles, quite close to where a suspected “chlorine chemical fire” at an industrial plant was being attended by emergency services.
Mr. Edwards said people should stay off the roads where possible, as outer bands of the storm were still causing high water levels and winds.
Some 1,500 people, including National Guard troops, are being deployed in rescue and clean-up missions.
Vice-President Mike Pence, who joined Mr. Trump at Fema, said: “While this was a major storm with devastating impact it was not as bad as it could have been.”
BBC
