KATHMANDU: At least six people have been killed as Hurricane Laura battered the US state of Louisiana.

Winds of up to 240km/h caused severe damage, with power cuts to more than half a million homes and a chemical fire from an industrial plant.

But the feared 6-meter-high storm surge was avoided as the hurricane tracked further east, passed Arkansas and has now gradually subsided.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said the state “did not sustain and suffer the absolute, catastrophic damage that we thought was likely,” but stressed they had still suffered “a tremendous amount of damage” and warned people to remain vigilant.

(With inputs from Agencies)