11:30 LRN Newscast August 27

Hurricane Laura’s fierce winds have left a trail of catastrophic damage. Jeff Palermo has the story…
cut 1 (33) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”

There have been two fatalities reported as a result of Laura, a 14-year-old girl from Leesville and a 68-year man from Iota in Acadia Parish died when trees fell on their homes. There’s also a large chemical fire at BioLab near Lake Charles and residents in the area who did not evacuate have been told to shelter in place and to turn off their A-C units.

Congressman Ralph Abraham is out surveying areas of the state that were severely impacted by Hurricane Laura overnight. Abraham says he started at daybreak in his vehicle at Lake Charles then drove north to Deridder and on to Alexandria.
Cut 10 (10) “…left untouched.”
Abraham says power lines and trees are down and debris is everywhere. He also praises first responders who are risking their lives to come to the aid of others.

The Louisiana National Guard has activated more than three-thousand Guardsmen to assist in the recovery operations. Sergeant Denis Ricou…
cut 25 (12) “….efforts”
Guardsmen have also strategically placed 921-thousand liters of water and 528-thousand M-R-Es for distribution and the soldiers will spend the day helping to clear debris from the roadways.