TORONTO -- A Louisiana man who stayed behind as his family fled from the wrath of Hurricane Laura is assessing the impact caused by the storm.
Lake Charles, a city that sits on the banks of the Calcasieu River in southwestern Louisiana, was one of the hardest-hit by the storm. The city is located about 48 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Mexico, where strong winds and heavy rain toppled trees, knocking down power lines and damaging houses.
Residents were left without power and running water. An estimate for when those services will be restored has not yet been provided.
To make matters worse, a stay-at-home order was enacted during the storm, after a large just west of the city.
While many residents evacuated, 40-year resident of the area David Perry stayed home through the storm.
鈥淚t was pretty scary,鈥� Perry told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Friday. 鈥淲e鈥檝e lived through several hurricanes before, this was my worst one though.鈥�
Perry鈥檚 wife and children fled to Dallas, Texas to avoid the brunt of the storm, but he says he decided to stay with a friend in a multi-storey house in Lake Charles.
After the worst of the storm passed, Perry says he went into action and began assessing the damage throughout his neighbourhood.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got neighbours homes that are devastated with trees down through the middle of them, roofs totally ripped off,鈥� he said. 鈥淪everal properties look like a bomb hit them and just exploded.鈥�
A 14-year old girl was the first hurricane-related death to be reported by the governor鈥檚 office early Thursday, after a tree fell on her home.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused and an estimated total of .
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 just a lot of clean up,鈥� Perry said on his next steps after the storm. 鈥淎 lof of dirty hard work.鈥�
