The Lake Charles region may have been spared the predicted catastrophic storm surge but the winds from Hurricane Laura have left a mark, and now residents in nearby Westlake, Moss Bluff, and Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish are being instructed to stay inside due to a chemical fire at the BioLab plant. State Police Trooper Derek Senegal says hazmat teams are on scene…
Cut 12 (13) “…of it reigniting.”
The plume is ignited chlorine.
Elsewhere in the area the Isle of Capri riverboat barge had to be dislodged from under the I-10 Bridge, causing a shutdown of the bridge for inspection.
Laura made landfall with 150 mile per hour winds, and winds of at least 100 miles per hour were reported in Lake Charles. Calcasieu Police Jury President Tony Guillory…
Cut 5 (05) “…structure damage. ”
Four people are so far confirmed to have died from incidents related to the hurricane. 14-year-old girl in Leesville died when the fierce winds knocked a tree down on her home. Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft says with so many trees down it wasn’t easy to get to the scene…
Other fatalities were reported in Jackson and Acadia Parishes.
Governor Edwards says the state is lucky to have avoided the worst-case scenarios projected for Hurricane Laura but still a record number of power crews and search and rescue first responders are scouring areas in the path of the storm. He asks you not to get in their way.
1,500 search and rescue workers are active in the state.