Worst-case storm surge from Hurricane Laura was avoided thanks to low tide

Hurricane Laura is barreling through Louisiana and Texas after making landfall with sustained winds of up to 150 miles per hour, just shy of a Category 5 hurricane.

Louisiana officials on Thursday reported the first death as a result of the storm: a teenage girl in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, was killed when a tree fell on a home. NBC News reports Laura was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane shortly after it made landfall, and is expected to continue weakening as it moves inland.

While forecasters warned of "unsurvivable" storm surge, saying coastal areas could see surges up to 20 feet, the highest surge recorded was 11 feet, writes NBC. That's still dangerously high, but luckily the worst-case scenario was avoided thanks to the storm missing high tide and moving east of Lake Charles. However, since the storm hit at night in a mostly-evacuated region, "We may never fully know the extent of the surge," reports NBC.

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More than 450,000 households in Louisiana and Texas have lost power, and Laura is far from over. Much of the region is facing heavy winds and rain; 11 million residents of Louisiana and Kentucky are under flash flood watches. Read more at NBC News.