Hurricane Laura dealt a severe blow to my hometown, Lake Charles, Louisiana. Here’s how to donate or help.

Published September 1, 2020

My hometown is suffering. Lake Charles, hit last week by Hurricane Laura, the most powerful storm on record to hit Louisiana, looks like a war zone. People are without electricity, have little or no running water, phone service is limited, internet access is spotty, and food and shelter are immediate needs for many. Gas is in short supply.

I have friends whose homes are total losses. Many have lost part or all of their roofs. Blue tarps are everywhere. So is need. It will be weeks, maybe months, before full basic services return to the city. Imagine working through all of this in 90-degree weather that comes with the oppressive humidity of a subtropical climate.

The latest column by my former editor, Jim Beam, has more details and context.

As Laura approached the Gulf Coast, memories of Hurricane Rita — which followed Hurricane Katrina by only a few weeks — came to mind. I wrote about it in a 2015 blog post, and I will continue to think about that anytime the death toll is mentioned. As with the COVID-19 coronavirus, the official death toll will never tell the whole story. Although Laura didn’t flood Lake Charles the way Rita’s storm surge and rainfall did, in many ways she packed a more powerful punch.

The Facebook status below has 70 photos of the damage in Lake Charles.

 

The city and region need your help. If you are able, the links below will get you started:

Even Chef Jose Andres went down there to do his thing.

Most of the people I know down there are too busy cleaning up or tending to immediate needs, they don’t have time or the internet access to curate much of a list for ways to help. I hope this one helps to fill that void.

Louisiana friends, please report any errors or additional information to me in the comments or through my Contact page, and I will update this post. I am thinking of you here in the Pacific Northwest.

The people of Southwest Louisiana have a long, proud history of self-reliance and are more likely to drop everything to help someone in need than to ask for assistance. I know; I lived there for 36 years. I’ve seen men, women and children do extraordinary things to aid others, and I’ve been the recipient of so many kind gestures and material and financial help from friends, family and strangers. This time, tens of thousands of them could use your help.

Please do so if you can, even if it’s only by sharing this post.

Thank you.

Photo of Hurricane Laura damage in Southwest Louisiana by NolaVid/via Shutterstock.