Better understanding of the hurricane damage in Louisiana

As Louisiana braces for yet another hurricane, we are getting a better idea of just how much damage has already been done to crops and infrastructure.

In Lake Charles, Farmers Rice Mill lost its roof in both Hurricane Laura and Delta.

General manager, Philip Bertrand says that the storms hit from two different directions.

“The first storm, it removed probably about a third of that roof, that was a permanent roof, and it was ready for 125 mph winds. Well, industry wise and standard wise and code wise, that met all the requirements, but as we know, it had no chance,” Bertrand states. “So, we put a temporary roofing on it and within weeks later, we had another storm from another direction because we were on the west side of the storm for Hurricane Delta, and obviously as you saw down below, it removed all the temporary roofing.”

The port of Lake Charles was the target for a lot of the fury, as Farmers Rice Mill lost 80-85 percent of its warehouse space. The team says that repairs and reconstruction will take years.

Related:

Alabama farmers recovering from Hurricane Sally

Hurricane Laura decimated Louisiana’s pecan crop