Hurricane Laura has now downgraded to a tropical storm but so far we know she’s claimed three in Louisiana. In Jackson Parish, a man died when a tree fell on his home. Another fatality happened near Iota in Acadia Parish. Sheriff K-P Gibson says a 68-year-old man died when a tree fell on his home.
The youngest victim so far is a 14-year-old girl in Leesville who died when fierce winds knocked a tree down on her home. The eye of the storm went right over Vernon Parish. Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft believes it spawned a couple of tornadoes and they had winds of over 120-miles per hour…
Cut 7 (10) “…very, very limited”
Hurricane Laura made landfall this morning as a Category Four storm, maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, at 1 AM in Cameron. Lake Charles took a direct hit as they had sustained winds of at least 100 miles per hour. Calcasieu Police Jury President Tony Guillory (Gill-oh-ree) spoke with us as he surveyed the damage… Guillory says he remembers Hurricane Rita in 2005, but the damage from this storm is worse
Cut 5 (05) “…structure damage. ”
Laura has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Congressman Ralph Abraham started at daybreak today surveying areas of the state damaged by Laura. While the storm surge was half of what was predicted, Abraham says the state however still suffered extreme damage from Hurricane Laura.