It’s been one week since Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron Parish and cut a line of devastation from Lake Charles to Ruston. The Public Service Commission reports 211-thousand customers are still without power, down from the post-Laura peak of 615,000. Governor John Bel Edwards warns many of those still out are in the hardest-hit areas.
Nearly all of Winn, Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Cameron Parishes are still without power.
Beauregard Parish Sheriff Mark Herford says some areas of his parish could be without power for close to a month. He says Beauregard is your typical quiet rural parish, but there’s a lot of activity taking place now.
Hurricane Laura is estimated to be an eight-to-nine billion-dollar insured loss event, the second-highest in the state’s history only behind Katrina. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says with the mass amount of claims coming into insurers, policyholders need to file as soon as possible.
Cut 9 (07) “…resolve your claim.”
Whether it is tarping a roof, removing a tree, or whatever actions that need to be done, Donelon recommends taking whatever remedial steps can be taken to minimize the loss.
And when you do hire contractors for repairs, State Licensing Board for Contractors spokesperson Brad Hassert recommends verifying someone is a licensed contractor. Hassert says it will mostly be unlicensed workers that will try to trick people out of money and one of the ways they do so is by asking for a large amount of payment upfront.
Cut 14 (11) “…question for me.”
License verification can be done online at lslbc.louisiana.gov.