More than half a million people ordered to flee Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Laura's projected landfall

• Nearly 600,000 people were ordered to flee US cities along the Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Laura, which is forecasted to make landfall in the region by Thursday.
• The National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasted that Hurricane Laura could become a Category 3 or higher with winds at about 115 mph due to the warmer waters at the Gulf Coast, according to the Associated Press.
• Laura's sibling, Tropical Storm Marco, made landfall in Louisiana Monday evening.

Hundreds of thousands of people were told to evacuate US cities along the Gulf Coast in preparation for Hurricane Laura making landfall later this week.

Nearly 600,000 people were ordered to evacuate ahead of the hurricane, which is forecasted to hit the Texas-Louisiana border late Wednesday or early Thursday.

More than 385,000 residents were issued evacuation orders across Beaumont, Galveston, and Port Arthur, Texas, according to the Associated Press. Residents of Harris County, Texas, were issued a voluntary evacuation order on Tuesday, impacting county residents along the coast on Galveston Bay, not including South Houston, The New York Times reported.

An additional 200,000 people in Calcasieu Parish in Louisiana were also ordered to evacuate. Certain parts of the Jefferson, Lafourche, and Plaquemines parishes were also told to evacuate, according to The Times. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards told residents that they should be prepared to shelter in place by Wednesday at noon.

Edwards told residents Monday to anticipate "a significant storm," according to a report from NBC News.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office announced that more than 900 inmates in the parish will be dispersed to other facilities in Louisiana ahead of the hurricane.

"The Sheriff's Office will be increasing manpower on patrol and will do everything we can to keep you and your property safe, but at some point it will be too hazardous for deputies to respond and for that time frame you need to ensure your own personal safety if you choose to stay," Sheriff Tony Mancuso said in a Facebook post.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasted that Hurricane Laura could become a Category 3 or "even higher" due to the warmer waters at the Gulf Coast, with winds at about 115 mph, according to the AP.

The evacuation area could expand depending on the direction the storm takes as it nears the coast, Craig Fugate, former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the AP.

Both Govs. Abbot and Edwards have issued states of emergency.

Laura's sibling, Tropical Storm Marco, made landfall in Louisiana Monday evening.

The Tuesday evacuation marks the largest mass evacuation amid the coronavirus pandemic. Officials recommended residents stay with family or at hotels and adhere to proper health safety guidelines, the AP reported. Buses for residents were also stocked with personal protective equipment and disinfectant, according to the AP report.

The hurricane evacuations have put an extra strain on locals. Whitney Frazier, a resident of Beaumont, Texas, told AP she was struggling to find transportation to buses designated for evacuation, all while being mindful of health safety with the ongoing pandemic.

"Especially with everything with COVID going on already on top of a mandatory evacuation, it's very stressful," Frazier said.