LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana -- Three years after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to Beaumont, Texas, another powerful storm took aim at neighboring Louisiana in late August and left a trail of destruction that included heavy damage to Lake Charles, home to McNeese State University.
Hurricanes are generally either wind events or rain events, and Hurricane Laura was certainly the former. Gathering steam in the overheated waters of the Gulf as it made a beeline for Southwestern Louisiana, the storm intensified to a Category 4 with peak sustained winds of 150 miles per hour as it headed for the coast and then made landfall near Cameron as the first Cat 4 to hit the area since 1856.
With a well-defined eye and a relatively tight coil, Laura smacked the Cameron area like a heavyweight boxer and headed toward Calcasieu Lake and Lake Charles. With sustained winds of 95 mph and gusts up to 132 mph, the storm battered the city of 80,000, shredding homes and knocking down thousands of trees. It destroyed dozens of buildings and damaged hundreds more, including many on the McNeese State campus.
Long-time head track and field coach Brendon Gilroy detailed the effect on the campus and its athletic facilities. "There was extensive damage on campus. More than 75% of the buildings had roof damage or other problems and need remediation for water damage inside. Some of the buildings are worse than others and still haven't been able to be evaluated."
"Our athletic facilities in general didn't fare well," Gilroy added. "Football sustained heavy damage to their skyboxes and the new turf field was still holding water after a week. The brand-new basketball and volleyball arena was also heavily damaged with 70% of the roof membrane gone and sizable sections of the north, south and east walls blown out. Our baseball field took a big hit, as did softball and tennis."
McNeese's outdoor track and field facility was not spared, either. "We had some pretty bad damage," Gilroy said. "Our new fencing was all blown down and broken and the track got sliced up by flying debris. Our offices and weight room had structural damage, and the hammer and discus cages were destroyed along with storage sheds. Our bleachers even flew across the street." The Cowboys' indoor track is located in the Rec Complex, which had roof damage and took on water.
Fortunately, the area had plenty of warning that a deadly storm might strike, and all of the McNeese track and field athletes evacuated, with the last one leaving the evening before the storm. According to Gilroy, most are in temporary accommodation out of town or have returned home.
"My family and all of our assistant coaches and their families are OK, thank goodness," Gilroy said. "My family was able to evacuate to Auburn (Alabama) where my oldest daughter goes to school, and I headed to Hammond (Louisiana) after I made sure everyone on the team had somewhere to go."
Gilroy returned to Lake Charles the day after Laura struck to help assess damage and start the recovery process. "We have reports that some of the apartments our athletes live in were destroyed," Gilroy said. "Students are being allowed back to collect any belongings from their dormitories, and classes are being continued online."
"The biggest issue for Lake Charles is the sheer magnitude of the destruction," Gilroy said. "The entire Calcasieu Parish and the Parish below us (Cameron) are without power for over a week now and they’re saying that may last up to three or more weeks."
Gilroy added, "It's been great to see people from all over the country come to the area united to assist with the recovery process. The McNeese coaching staff has been out every day assisting in the community with some of the athletes who are back in town. We have been assisting with our on-campus donation center, tarping roofs, and clearing yards of trees and debris. Lake Charles as a whole has made great strides over the last week but with so much destruction there is a long way to go. The Louisiana weather this time of year hasn’t made it any easier."
It will take many months for Lake Charles and surrounding communities to get down the road to full recovery, but Gilroy is optimistic. "The outpouring of support from coaches and former athletes asking what they can do to assist is great. There is so much to do to get this community up and running again."
Assistance has already come from the track and field community, Gilroy said. "We have several schools from Louisiana and Texas already come to town and assist with their coaching staffs and student athletes. All I can say is -- keep it coming! This will not be done overnight. Our main concern is rebuilding this great community right now, and we will get there one house at a time."
In the weeks and months ahead, Gilroy hopes the area won't fade from the national spotlight as so much help is needed. "Any help we can get would be great. We’re planning on hosting conference in the spring, hopefully. It’s going to be a lot of work to get everything back working again, but we’re going to try our best to pull it off."
There have been numerous avenues set up to assist in the recovery efforts. Gilroy said the school has set up a donation center at 4406 Common Street where they are asking for water, food, toiletries and other personal items that may be hard to come by locally as supply chains have been disrupted.
The Track and Field Facility and offices were badly affected. WE APPRECIATE YOU!
