Intense Hurricane Laura hits hard along Louisiana-Texas border

    (CNN) -- Areas along the Louisiana-Texas border were hit hard overnight by Hurricane Laura, one of the strongest storms to ever hit the region.

The storm had weakened slightly by the morning, but sunrise brought the first glimpses of the scale of destruction left in its wake.

Here's what it looks in parts of Louisiana and Texas on Thursday after Laura battered the area.

Louisiana

Laura made landfall early Thursday near Cameron Parish in Louisiana with sustained winds of 150 mph, making it a high-end Category 4 storm.

As it crawled further inland, the winds caused what looked to be significant damage to some buildings in Lake Charles, just north of Cameron Parish.

Though forecasters had previously warned of potentially devastating storm surge, it seemed by Thursday morning that the worst of the damage came from the powerful wind gusts.

"The damage is extensive," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told CNN. "It appears now we have more structural damage from the wind" than from storm surge.

The effects were also felt about 12 miles west of Lake Charles in Sulphur, Louisiana.

"There's a tree down in every person's yard," said resident John Burch, who shared pictures of his neighborhood with CNN. A number of power lines were also down, he said.

Texas

Laura also slammed into Sabine Pass in Port Arthur, Texas, just over the Louisiana border.

The neighborhood saw flooding and downed powerlines.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told CNN that emergency crews are making their way throughout the areas closest to the Louisiana border, including Port Arthur, to see if anyone needs help and to assess flood damage.