On August 31, 2020, SWLA Center for Health Services opened one half of its facility to become North Lake Charles’ “command center” in the aide and recovery efforts following Hurricane Laura. Running on one generator, the Executive Director, Dianna E. Ross, staff members, and a handful of volunteers began receiving and distributing donations to Lake Charles’s citizens.

Estimations that 97% of the city of Lake Charles had structural damage, while 100% of the city and surrounding area was without electricity, gas, and clean water. Internet and phone services were also ineffective. 

PHOTO CREDIT: TRACY E. ANTOINE. A home in North Lake Charles after Hurricane Laura.

Ms. Ross explained that “everything” is needed. So, the donations and volunteers began to roll in. From all over the country, convoys of church and social organizations inundated SWLA Center for Health Services. They brought health and hygiene, food, water, ice, cleaning products, gift cards, free hot meals, and more. 

On September 3, 2020, SWLA continued to have people show up with donations of personal necessities, food, and more. The residents line up to receive whatever aid, available.  

On October 2, 2020, I returned to visit SWLA to see what had changed, if anything. 

Alyssa Stevens, SWLA Community Programs Manager, explains what has changed within the last month. 

“Well we’re still doing distribution. Um, we have reduced our distribution to from six days a week. This week we went to four days a week. So, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Next week, we will be three days. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Our hours are generally from 10 to 2. We try to start as close to two o’clock (*correction ten o’clock) as possible and then we go until we run out of supplies, which is generally around two o’clock.”

The lines are shorter, and supplies are minimal, compared to previous weeks. The row of supply tables is fewer. Yet, small hot meals, hygiene essentials, and water are still being handed out by fewer volunteers.

However, both sides of the clinic are opened, and they have resumed providing health and dental services. The daily supply donations distribution will end between October 4, 2020, and October 11, 2020. 

In a report by KPLC TV, Frank Green, an Entergy Lineman, and Lake Charles resident explain that the catastrophic damage to Lake Charles’s north side’s transmission lines is the reason for the delayed restoration. 

An update released by Entergy states that power to North Lake Charles will be fully restored by September 23, 2020, and the outlining towns, by September 30, 2020.

As of October 4^th, 2020, the following infographic shows the number of outages in Lake Charles.

As the recovery effort continues, people are still in need of necessary personal supplies and meals. The elderly, the disabled, single parents, and other low-income households are still in need of rental and food assistance, home repairs loans and grants, and other services.