LAKE CHARLES, La. (KLFY) — Five years after Hurricane Laura devastated Lake Charles, two local businesses are making strides toward recovery.

This comes after the category four hurricane ripped through the city five years ago, slamming many businesses and homes with its powerful winds and torrential rain.

Smitty’s Meat Market, a local business, stands as a symbol of Lake Charles’s resilience after the storm’s detrimental effects.

News 10 spoke with the owner of Smitty’s Meat Market, Joseph Lavergne, who says the store was closed after the storm due to significant damages.

“It was very scary,” said Lavergne. “I wasn’t over here I had to stay at the plant for a few days, and when I came back I saw my store was pretty much destroyed.”

Luckily, the store was able to be renovated and re-opened in 2021.

“It was a job getting it back together, but we did it,” said Lavergne. “Hopefully we don’t get another one.”

Longtime customer Leroy Cole expressed the community’s relief at the reopening of Smitty’s Meat Market.

“Whew, they were excited, I don’t know what would happen if they closed this store down,” said Cole.

House O’Soul Sports Bar, another local business, has remained closed since the storm. However, co-owner Cayden Wiltz announced plans to reopen in 2026.

“The goal is to re-open in the next year, hopefully a quarter two or three into 2026, and you know we’re very excited to come back stronger,” said Wiltz.

Wiltz says the storm taught them important lessons, and next time, they’ll be ready.

“I would just say be more prepared and game plan, as a group and as a whole and stuff like that, just to make sure that we can do things better this time around,” said Wiltz.

As Lake Charles continues to rebuild, the reopening of these businesses marks a significant step in the community’s recovery from Hurricane Laura.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

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