Louisiana

Ida made landfall on Sunday with 150mph (240km/h) winds, the fifth strongest to ever hit the US mainland. About one million locals remain without power.

"It's going to be a difficult life for quite some time," said one local leader in the Greater New Orleans area.

About 5,000 National Guard members have been deployed to aid search and rescue.

In addition, more than 25,000 workers from around the country have mobilised to support power restoration in the state, according to CNN.

Ida gathered more strength overnight and made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11.55am (local time), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

It is the toughest test yet for the hundreds of miles of new levees built around New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall 16 years ago to the day, inundating historically Black neighborhoods and killing more than 1800 people.

More than 400,000 were without power on Saturday morning and 200,000 without water, officials said.

Governor John Bel Edwards says the devastation and damage stretch all the way to northern parts of Louisiana.

At least 14 people were killed by the storm - 10 in Louisiana, four in Texas.

In Haiti, which was earlier badly hit by storms Marco and Laura, more than 31 people are now reported to have died.

President Donald Trump visited affected areas in Louisiana and Texas on Saturday.

The hurricane's first reported US fatality was a 14-year-old girl in Leesville, Louisiana, who died when a tree fell on her house, a spokeswoman for Governor John Bel Edwards said.

"We do expect that there could be more fatalities," the spokeswoman, Christina Stephens, said on Twitter.

A chemical plant caught fire in Laura's wake yesterday in Westlake, Louisiana, 6.4km west of Lake Charles, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky over the wind-torn landscape near Interstate 10.

Laura was upgraded to a Category 4 storm as it approached the coasts of Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday.

The NHC warned local residents to "rush" to complete preparations.

Half a million have been told to leave. Laura and another storm, Marco, earlier hit the Caribbean, killing 24.

Marco has already struck Louisiana, bringing strong winds and heavy rain on Monday.

Initially it was feared that both storms would hit Louisiana as hurricanes within 48 hours of each other - an unprecedented event - but Marco was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Marco, which strengthened to a hurricane on Sunday and is forecast to hit the Louisiana coast on Monday, will be followed by Tropical Storm Laura, now over the Dominican Republic and expected to travel across Hispaniola and Cuba and strengthen to a hurricane before striking the Gulf Coast on Thursday.

Tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.

On Sunday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agenda confirmed deaths across three counties.

In Louisiana, a number of homes were destroyed in the city of Monroe, with the city's official social media account initially reporting only minor injuries.

The National Weather Service said severe thunderstorms were likely through late Sunday into Monday, in particular across parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

Storm Barry has been gathering speed over the Gulf of Mexico in recent days.

Officials say sustained wind speeds have grown to 50mph (80km/h) and may still reach hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall.

It is expected to bring a storm surge and heavy rainfall to the city of New Orleans - which has already seen thunderstorms and flash floods.

The National Weather Service warns that flooding from the slow-moving storm poses the greatest risk.

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 85mph (137km/h), is moving north, and a second landfall is expected on the Mississippi coast later.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida have issued hurricane warnings and evacuation orders.

Nate killed at least 25 people in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras.

The tropical storm has since strengthened and is now a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Although not as strong as last month's Maria and Irma, Nate is expected to bring strong winds and storm surges.

The woman was confined to a trailer that belonged to a family acquaintance "for at least a couple of weeks," East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said. Her 11-year-old daughter was with her.

On Tuesday, the mother slipped a note to her daughter that she was scared and being held against her will. The girl brought it to East Feliciana Middle School and gave it to officials, Travis said.

"It's very alarming when a student shows up with a note asking for help," Travis said.