24. This came just hours after the southeastern portion of the state had their tropical storm and storm surge warnings for Marco cancelled. Most of the watches were upgraded to warnings the next day and a flash flood watch was also issued for the western half of the state as over of rain was expected. As the threat of surge increased for the coastline, the NHC stated that there would be "unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves." Due to the continued threat of Marco and Laura making landfall in Louisiana, on August 21, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for 36 parishes. Evacuations related to Marco were in place for Plaquemines Parish, Jefferson Parish, Grand Isle, and Port Fourchon. A mandatory evacuation for the entirety of Calcasieu Parish, approximately 200,000 people, was ordered on August 25. State-run shelters were opened with cots spread farther apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just hours before Laura made landfall on August 26, I-10 was shut down in both directions between the Louisiana/Texas border eastward to the Atchafalaya Basin. Mississippi Despite being well away from the center of the storm, the coastline of Mississippi was placed under a storm surge watch from Ocean Springs westward on August 24 due to the massive size of Laura. However, these were dropped before the storm made landfall. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency on August 22 due to both Hurricanes Laura and Marco threatening the state, which the federal government granted on August 24. Arkansas Search and rescue teams were put on standby as Governor Asa Hutchinson declared an emergency ahead of Hurricane Laura and set aside $250,000 to prepare for the storm's impacts. One day later President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the state of Arkansas. For the first time in the state's history the National Weather Service issued tropical storm watches and warnings for several southern counties of Arkansas with local forecasters predicting that areas southeast of Little Rock face the greatest risk of damage. Impact Laura caused widespread devastation throughout most of its path with tropical-storm force winds going over almost all of the Antillean Islands, hurricane and tropical-storm force winds impacting parts of Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas, and flooding rain and storm surge affecting a large portion of the storm's path. Losses are estimated at over $19.1 billion, and