Louisiana struggles to recover after back-to-back landfalls with Laura and Delta: How to help
By
Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 11, 2020 7:40 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Jonathan Petramala spoke with residents of Cypremort Point, Louisiana, who haven't even had time to clean up from Hurricane Laura and are now cleaning up the aftermath of Hurricane Delta.
After being lashed by both Laura and Delta within the span of just a few weeks, Lake Charles, Louisiana, is struggling to recover from the damage, and with national attention focusing elsewhere, some residents and officials are worried they will not receive the aid they require to rebuild.
Delta made landfall on Friday near Creole, Louisiana, just 13 miles from where Laura made landfall only 43 days prior. As it struck the coast with 100-mph winds, Delta left a path of destruction in the form of flooded streets and damaged buildings and homes.
On Sunday the first fatality from Delta was confirmed by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who said an 86-year-old man died in St. Martin Parish. A total of 32 deaths were reported due to Laura.
Delta, which was rated an AccuWeather RealImpact™ of 2, was the 10th storm to make landfall in the United States this hurricane season, breaking the record previously set in 1916. It was also the first hurricane named after the Greek alphabet to make landfall in the U.S. The 2020 season has become unprecedented in many aspects, and Lake Charles is now left to rebuild from the aftermath of back-to-back landfalls.
While Delta may have been a weaker storm than Category 4 Laura, which was considered a RealImpact™ rating of 4, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said Delta brought more flooding to the costal town, and hundreds of homes that already took on damage from Laura were impacted by the flooding.
“Add Laura and Delta together and it’s just absolutely unprecedented and catastrophic,” Hunter told The Associated Press. “We are very concerned that with everything going on in the country right now that this incident may not be on the radar nationally like it should be.”
He told AccuWeather's Bill Wadell that he has a few concerns regarding the national attention on Lake Charles and the rest of Louisiana after Delta moved through the area. Particularly, he said he was worried they would see a repeat of what happened after Laura, when national attention quickly shifted elsewhere after the "drama" of landfall subsided.
"Our citizens here not only need a response from the federal government but average Americans [that] will remember what's happened here in Lake Charles and be generous with their money toward some of our nonprofits that are so in need," Hunter said.
On Saturday, 9,400 people were being sheltered by the state. According to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, however, only 935 of those people evacuated from Delta, and the rest were still evacuated from Laura.
Those living along the Gulf coast may be familiar with the feeling of being forced to evacuate from a hurricane, but the double-whammy Louisiana faced has brought on more anguish than usual as rebuilding efforts begin -- again. Lake Charles resident Katie Prejean McGrady told the AP that she and her family had to evacuate from Laura while she was nine months pregnant.
“I’m taxed out. And I think that’s most people in town. There’s a mental exhaustion that sets in and then there’s a fear of ‘Does anybody outside this region care?’” she said. “The reality is our town won’t be the same for a year, if not longer.”
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After returning from Laura's evacuation on Monday and replacing their roof, Delta loomed over the coast and forced them to evacuate once again just a day later.
“My husband hadn’t even unpacked his suitcase,” McGrady said. “I had just put away my daughter’s toys.”
A stop sign in Lake Charles, LA, was knocked over after Hurricane Delta ripped through the town, leaving behind flooding and damage, which was captured on Oct. 10. (Photo/Bill Wadell)
(Photo/Bill Wadell)
Multiple charities have stepped up to assist in rebuilding efforts -- and are now accepting donations.
Anyone can make a $10 donation to Delta recovery efforts through the Red Cross by visiting redcross.org, calling 800-RED-CROSS or texting the word DELTA to 90999. Donations to the Red Cross will go toward food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support and other assistance for those affected by the hurricanes. To ensure that your donation specifically goes toward Delta recovery, you can select that option at redcross.org/donate or when calling 800-RED-CROSS.
People can also join the Red Cross in its relief efforts by becoming a volunteer.
In addition, Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana is accepting donations for those still affected by Laura to "return to the lives they’d known before this disaster struck." The foundation accepts both one time donations and reoccurring donations.
United Way of Southeast Louisiana also is accepting financial donations that goes toward putting displaced families back in their homes, rebuilding schools and businesses that have been damaged or destroyed and providing aid to those who were placed in a vulnerable position after the hurricane.
For those looking to contribute food to individuals impacted by the hurricanes, Second Harvest Food Bank, Operation BBQ Relief and World Central Kitchen are all accepting financial donations that will go toward providing meals to those affected by these natural disasters.
The Mutual Aid Response Network Imagine, a group of Louisiana residents led by Water Works, is providing more unique necessities to those affected, including chainsaws, box fans, tools, food, clothing, mobility devices, laundry services, mini-fridges to be used for breastmilk and medicine, activities for children, slow cookers, grills, and more, while prioritizing the funding, leadership, and safety of Black, Indigenous and people of color. So far they have raised more than $71,000 of their $250,000 goal.
Those considering lending a helping hand to survivors of the back-to-back storms can use tools like Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, or GuideStar to vet charities.
"[The impacts from Laura] will surely slow down rebuilding efforts and make things slower for recovering from Delta," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said of the two hurricanes. "It likely requires a second round of rebuilding for some things that might have been done already, and could have brought more damage to those areas that already saw the damage from Laura."
Hunter told Wadell that the residents of Lake Charles have already begun the rebuilding process in their town, but they will need more than just the effort of each other to truly return to life as it was. He said he has not been "bashful" in requesting assistance from the federal government.
"We're going to need the proper federal response to this," Hunter told Wadell. "Lake Charles is going to help each other. We're going to help our friends, we're going to help our neighbors, but this is not just a Southwest Louisiana incident. This is not just a localized tragedy, this is an American tragedy, especially when you combine both of these storms."
Additional reporting by Bill Wadell.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather News
Louisiana struggles to recover after back-to-back landfalls with Laura and Delta: How to help
By Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 11, 2020 7:40 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Jonathan Petramala spoke with residents of Cypremort Point, Louisiana, who haven't even had time to clean up from Hurricane Laura and are now cleaning up the aftermath of Hurricane Delta.
After being lashed by both Laura and Delta within the span of just a few weeks, Lake Charles, Louisiana, is struggling to recover from the damage, and with national attention focusing elsewhere, some residents and officials are worried they will not receive the aid they require to rebuild.
Delta made landfall on Friday near Creole, Louisiana, just 13 miles from where Laura made landfall only 43 days prior. As it struck the coast with 100-mph winds, Delta left a path of destruction in the form of flooded streets and damaged buildings and homes.
On Sunday the first fatality from Delta was confirmed by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who said an 86-year-old man died in St. Martin Parish. A total of 32 deaths were reported due to Laura.
Delta, which was rated an AccuWeather RealImpact™ of 2, was the 10th storm to make landfall in the United States this hurricane season, breaking the record previously set in 1916. It was also the first hurricane named after the Greek alphabet to make landfall in the U.S. The 2020 season has become unprecedented in many aspects, and Lake Charles is now left to rebuild from the aftermath of back-to-back landfalls.
While Delta may have been a weaker storm than Category 4 Laura, which was considered a RealImpact™ rating of 4, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said Delta brought more flooding to the costal town, and hundreds of homes that already took on damage from Laura were impacted by the flooding.
“Add Laura and Delta together and it’s just absolutely unprecedented and catastrophic,” Hunter told The Associated Press. “We are very concerned that with everything going on in the country right now that this incident may not be on the radar nationally like it should be.”
He told AccuWeather's Bill Wadell that he has a few concerns regarding the national attention on Lake Charles and the rest of Louisiana after Delta moved through the area. Particularly, he said he was worried they would see a repeat of what happened after Laura, when national attention quickly shifted elsewhere after the "drama" of landfall subsided.
"Our citizens here not only need a response from the federal government but average Americans [that] will remember what's happened here in Lake Charles and be generous with their money toward some of our nonprofits that are so in need," Hunter said.
On Saturday, 9,400 people were being sheltered by the state. According to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, however, only 935 of those people evacuated from Delta, and the rest were still evacuated from Laura.
Those living along the Gulf coast may be familiar with the feeling of being forced to evacuate from a hurricane, but the double-whammy Louisiana faced has brought on more anguish than usual as rebuilding efforts begin -- again. Lake Charles resident Katie Prejean McGrady told the AP that she and her family had to evacuate from Laura while she was nine months pregnant.
“I’m taxed out. And I think that’s most people in town. There’s a mental exhaustion that sets in and then there’s a fear of ‘Does anybody outside this region care?’” she said. “The reality is our town won’t be the same for a year, if not longer.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
After returning from Laura's evacuation on Monday and replacing their roof, Delta loomed over the coast and forced them to evacuate once again just a day later.
“My husband hadn’t even unpacked his suitcase,” McGrady said. “I had just put away my daughter’s toys.”
A stop sign in Lake Charles, LA, was knocked over after Hurricane Delta ripped through the town, leaving behind flooding and damage, which was captured on Oct. 10. (Photo/Bill Wadell)
Multiple charities have stepped up to assist in rebuilding efforts -- and are now accepting donations.
Anyone can make a $10 donation to Delta recovery efforts through the Red Cross by visiting redcross.org, calling 800-RED-CROSS or texting the word DELTA to 90999. Donations to the Red Cross will go toward food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support and other assistance for those affected by the hurricanes. To ensure that your donation specifically goes toward Delta recovery, you can select that option at redcross.org/donate or when calling 800-RED-CROSS.
People can also join the Red Cross in its relief efforts by becoming a volunteer.
In addition, Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana is accepting donations for those still affected by Laura to "return to the lives they’d known before this disaster struck." The foundation accepts both one time donations and reoccurring donations.
United Way of Southeast Louisiana also is accepting financial donations that goes toward putting displaced families back in their homes, rebuilding schools and businesses that have been damaged or destroyed and providing aid to those who were placed in a vulnerable position after the hurricane.
Related:
For those looking to contribute food to individuals impacted by the hurricanes, Second Harvest Food Bank, Operation BBQ Relief and World Central Kitchen are all accepting financial donations that will go toward providing meals to those affected by these natural disasters.
The Mutual Aid Response Network Imagine, a group of Louisiana residents led by Water Works, is providing more unique necessities to those affected, including chainsaws, box fans, tools, food, clothing, mobility devices, laundry services, mini-fridges to be used for breastmilk and medicine, activities for children, slow cookers, grills, and more, while prioritizing the funding, leadership, and safety of Black, Indigenous and people of color. So far they have raised more than $71,000 of their $250,000 goal.
Those considering lending a helping hand to survivors of the back-to-back storms can use tools like Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, or GuideStar to vet charities.
"[The impacts from Laura] will surely slow down rebuilding efforts and make things slower for recovering from Delta," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said of the two hurricanes. "It likely requires a second round of rebuilding for some things that might have been done already, and could have brought more damage to those areas that already saw the damage from Laura."
Hunter told Wadell that the residents of Lake Charles have already begun the rebuilding process in their town, but they will need more than just the effort of each other to truly return to life as it was. He said he has not been "bashful" in requesting assistance from the federal government.
"We're going to need the proper federal response to this," Hunter told Wadell. "Lake Charles is going to help each other. We're going to help our friends, we're going to help our neighbors, but this is not just a Southwest Louisiana incident. This is not just a localized tragedy, this is an American tragedy, especially when you combine both of these storms."
Additional reporting by Bill Wadell.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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