LAKE CHARLES, La – An aerial survey of Lake Charles shows just how many homes that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Laura are still in need of repair as Hurricane Delta approaches landfall.
Laura made landfall on August 29, causing an estimated $8 billion to $12 billion in damage and leading to the deaths of at least 32 people in Louisiana.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency handed out now-iconic blue tarps to homeowners with damaged roofs, a process all too familiar in hurricane-prone areas. Now, those same blue tarps are all that stands between the raging winds and torrential rains of Hurricane Delta and homes still in desperate need of repair.
Garyn Vincent, who is working to assist energy companies get power restored in Lake Charles, recorded a video showing the breathtaking scope of the destruction while conducting an aerial survey of the area.
In the weeks after Laura, FEMA accepted over 140,000 applications for assistance from displaced residents. More than 6,000 Lake Charles evacuees are still temporarily housed in New Orleans.
With the western portion of the Louisiana coastline still devastated, Delta is fast approaching. Current forecasts have Delta making landfall as a category 2 storm on Friday.
Delta is expected to make landfall within 15 to 20 miles of the spot where Laura made landfall in late August.
Stay tuned to WGNO for continued coverage of Hurricane Delta.
