CALCASIEU PARISH, La. (KLFY) — Today marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Laura, the 10th strongest hurricane to hit the United States, devastated Southwest Louisiana in 2020.

Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category four storm, leaving a trail of destruction across Calcasieu Parish and beyond. The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure, homes and businesses, impacting the lives of thousands of residents, and even the first responders and law enforcement responding to emergencies in the aftermath.

“We were probably at our lowest point after the hurricane. I mean, everything was torn up and we didn’t have any electricity in our parish for about a month,” said Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory.

Guillory described the challenges faced by first responders and law enforcement in the aftermath of the hurricane. Many worked 16 to 17-hour shifts while dealing with the loss of their own homes.

“It’s kind of hard to ask these people to go out and protect your community and put their life on the line and then don’t even have a home to go to. They don’t even have a place for their families to go,” Guillory explained.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office and jail suffered extensive damage, with roofs completely gone. For three years, inmates had to be relocated to surrounding areas due to the damage.

“I tell you, I never really seen that type of devastation in all my 40 plus years of law enforcement. We knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until we walked out and saw part of our roof on top of our cars,” Guillory said.

Despite the slow recovery process, Guillory praised the resilience of the community and responders.

“I have to hand it to the people of southwest Louisiana. They responded well and we did what we had to do, even though some of them had to fight insurance companies. But slowly but surely, we made our way back. I like where we’re at now. You know, we just have resilient people,” he said.

Five years after Hurricane Laura, the resilience and determination of the people of Southwest Louisiana continue to drive the recovery efforts, showcasing their strength in the face of adversity.

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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