Hurricane Laura cut a path of destruction from Lake Charles through north Lousiaina. In Rapides Parish, the Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Tommy Carnline says they had no idea they’d be hit so hard.
“There was some very high winds and there was a lot of roofs blown off and a lot of trees blown down. Snapped at the top actually, I’m looking at a lot of trees around our compound and they are just snapped at the top,” said Carnline.
A curfew is in effect in Rapides from 6 AM 9 PM Thursday and Friday.
Carnline says Gas pumps are down due to a lack of power and wifi. All traffic lights were knocked out, and over 40,000 lost power. Normally they’d be rushing deputies to south Louisiana, but this time they’ll be staying home.
“All of our people are staying here, we are not going to be able to assist anybody for several days until we can get our situation under control,” said Carnline.
In some good news, there were no severe injuries reported in the parish.
In Ruston, Mayor Ronnie Walker says they’ve suffered a blow, similar to the April 2019 tornado that killed two people.
“We lost a ton of trees, which we lost a lot in the tornado but the difference between the tornado and today is this is all over town,” said Walker.
In Ruston, winds over 70 miles per hour were clocked.
Walker says 95 percent of the city lost power, compared to just 70 percent of the city during the tornado.
“It looks like a ghost town, no lights anywhere,” said Walker.
(Photo courtesy of Alexandria city facebook page.)
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