Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Laura, as the Category 4 storm made landfall in southwest Louisiana. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said his outlook has improved immensely since this time last year now that city has received an allocation of federal supplemental disaster aid.
“We still have a lot of strides to make, there’s a lot of blue tarps out there, there’s a lot of people whose lives are still turned upside down. But at least I can point to that aid and tell them that help is right around the corner,” said Hunter.
Federal grant money is still not available to families who are in the need of money to help pay for repairs or fix that roof that still has a blue tarp on it.
With a population of 80, 000 Hunter said many are still struggling to put their lives back together and reflecting on the anniversary can be difficult. Hunter said on Saturday he will spend time with his family and reflect on how the city has recovered since Laura.
“The anniversary’s important but it’s all of the days in between those anniversaries that matter as well,” said Hunter.
It took until March of this year before the federal government finally announced over a billion dollars in hurricane recovery funds for southwest Louisiana. Hunter says that’s just not right.
“I hope that the federal government realizes that it shouldn’t be a political game of football every time a disaster comes through as to whether or not a community gets supplemental disaster aid,” said Hunter.
Hunter encourages residents to visit Lake Charles and see how much progress has been made.
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