TORONTO -- In the days leading up to Hurricane Laura鈥檚 arrival on the U.S. Gulf Coast, Becky Clements and her family made the heartbreaking decision to leave their home and most of their belongings and flee.

Clements, her husband, and her parents, who are in their eighties, evacuated Lake Charles, La. on Tuesday afternoon and travelled to the city of Ruston in northern Louisiana where her daughter is attending college. Her two older sons are away at school and safe.

鈥淎s soon as we heard it was going to be about a [Category] 2, once it was going to be at least two or three, we were going to leave,鈥� she told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Thursday.

Before they left, Clements said they scrambled to clean up everything in their yard 鈥渟o they don鈥檛 become missiles鈥� when the storm hits and loaded up their car with what they could fit.

鈥淲hat we brought with us was basically clothes and food,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 pack up your whole house. I would have loved to have packed up photo albums and important things that are sentimental to us, but you just can鈥檛 do that. You鈥檙e trying to get out of the way of the storm.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the first time Clements has been forced to abandon her home because of a hurricane.

In 2005, she and her children evacuated Lake Charles ahead of Hurricane Rita 鈥� the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded.

Clements said her husband, however, stayed during that storm because he was on call at the hospital.

鈥淭hat was a smaller storm, but it was catastrophic and he said 鈥榥ever again, never again,鈥欌�� she recalled.

鈥淲hen Rita hit, the city was devastated. Trees everywhere, you couldn't drive down the roads. The utility poles at a 60 degree angle hanging over the roads. We had no power for at least a week, some areas for two weeks鈥� It took years to come back from.鈥�

That鈥檚 why Clements said they knew they were going to leave as soon as it was clear Hurricane Laura was shaping up to be much worse than Rita.

Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Louisiana early Thursday, and battered the Gulf Coast with powerful winds and torrential rain for hours before it was downgraded later in the morning.

More than 580,000 coastal residents were ordered to evacuate in advance of the hurricane and while many did, some did not, choosing instead to weather the storm from their homes.

Clements said she knows some people who chose to stay behind.

鈥淪ome of them thinking that they were going to protect their property. I don鈥檛 know how you do that against a hurricane鈥� I can鈥檛 tell you why they decided to stay,鈥� she said.

While the worst of the hurricane appears to have passed, with officials expecting it to weaken to a tropical storm as it tracks into Arkansas later on Thursday, Clements said she鈥檚 still concerned about what she will find when they鈥檙e able to return to Lake Charles.

鈥淚鈥檓 worried about my family, about our home, worried about friends who stayed鈥︹�� she said.