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Damage photos, resources, how to help

Megan Kearney   | Paste BN

It's a new day on the Gulf Coast as residents and officials have initiated an extensive cleanup and recovery process in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. We hope you stayed safe throughout the duration of the storm. Now that Laura has passed through, this will be our final Storm Watch newsletter.

On behalf of our journalists in Louisiana, Texas and beyond, I want to thank you for following our coverage. This newsletter was intended to keep you up to speed on the latest hurricane dispatches in your area — I hope we did just that.

You received this email because you are a Daily Briefing subscriber. If you want to stay updated on storms in the future, sign up for Storm Watch using any of these links, depending on where you're reading from: 

The latest updates

Where is Laura now? The storm weakened to a tropical depression over Arkansas Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. Follow the storm's path using this live tracker.

Power outages: As of 8 a.m. Friday, more than 440,000 customers remained without power across Louisiana. See the map of reported outages in Louisiana and Texas here.

Road closures: Interstate 10 from Lake Charles to Texas and the Calcasieu Bridge are expected to reopen by noon today, according to Louisiana Department of Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson and State Police Col. Kevin Reeves.

Don't stay long: Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter warned returning residents to "Look and Leave" as Laura left the city struggling to restore utilities.

Trump will make an appearance: President Donald Trump said he plans to travel to Louisiana either Saturday or Sunday to survey the damage.

A look at the aftermath

Here's what we know: Hurricane Laura ran head-on into Lake Charles Thursday before carving a destructive path all the way through the western, central and northern parts of the state. Six deaths have been attributed to the storm. Louisiana suffered widespread wind damage but was spared what had been forecast to be a deadly storm surge catastrophe. 

Gov. Jon Bel Edwards: "I will tell you the damage is extensive. But we got a break on storm surge; it was about half of what was expected."

See photos of damage and destruction by area and parish:

Watch videos: 

Recovery efforts & how to help

How to help: Residents and recovery groups will need help in the days to come. If you're interested in donating blood, supplies or your time as a volunteer, here's the latest info on assistance in Louisiana and Texas.

Recovery teams on the ground: Cajun Navy Relief and Rescue has boots on the ground all over the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

'They went out as soon as they could.' A team from Florida, the Marco Patriots, headed to Lake Charles from Baton Rouge to assist with recovery efforts once Laura's eye passed through.

Well, folks, that's all for now. We'll continue updating our sites with the latest news on rebuilding and recovery on the Gulf Coast. Thank you for sticking with us throughout the duration of the storm.

Until next time, be safe and be well.

— Megan Kearney, Regional Digital Planner

P.S. We provided this content for free as a public service to readers, and we appreciate you trusting our journalists to keep you safe and informed. If you valued the news and information in the Storm Watch newsletter, please consider becoming a digital subscriber. Subscriptions help power our local journalism. Anything else you'd like to see in future newsletters like this? Let us know by filling out this short survey. 

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