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Residents still dealing with hurricane's ongoing effects after nearly 5 years: 'Still to this day we're cleaning up'

"We have to get this stuff out of the way."

"We have to get this stuff out of the way."

Photo Credit: iStock

Nearly five years after Hurricane Laura tore through Louisiana, some of the damage is still affecting communities — including native wildlife populations and hunters left dealing with damaged tree stands and invasive hogs, as local station KPLC reported.

What's happening?

In the early morning hours on Aug. 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron. With sustained winds of 150 mph, it was classified as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming the strongest named storm to make landfall in Southwest Louisiana in recorded history — and the strongest in the state since 1969, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm was responsible for the direct deaths of 47 people and around $19 billion in damages across the United States and Hispaniola. One of the hardest hit areas in the U.S. was Lake Charles. In addition to extreme winds, Hurricane Laura also brought a catastrophic storm surge of between 12 and 18 feet in Southern Louisiana. 

Though nearly half a decade has passed, residents around Lake Charles are still feeling the impact. This includes the destruction of many of the trees that populated nearby woodlands. 

The hurricane removed habitat for native animals and tree stands for hunters. Subsequent reduced foot traffic by hunters has also contributed to a rise in invasive feral hogs, KPLC reported.

Corey Majors, a local hunting lease member, recounted to the news outlet the amount of damage to the woodlands, noting the impact it has had on the community. "We weren't able to access certain areas of the woods. Still to this day we're cleaning up trees that are still down," Majors noted

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Why is the destruction of Hurricane Laura important?

As a result of the destructive winds from Hurricane Laura, one of the biggest concerns was the loss of power and water, with well over 500,000 people in Louisiana experiencing outages and numerous water systems going down. The storm also impacted the agricultural sector, including forestry and livestock. 

Paul Stone, a conservation forester, explained to KPLC that the number of trees lost to the storm created too much work to keep up with. "These trees that are laying on the ground, we were unable to salvage. There was too much laying on the ground. The mills were completely full. We couldn't salvage it all in time," Stone said

"It was also wet because of so much rain after the hurricanes, and so you'll see all of this wood that's on the ground. Well, this heavily impacts our ability to replant forests and so we have to get this stuff out of the way," Stone added. 

While tropical systems have always been an unavoidable concern for much of the South, experts are sounding the alarm regarding increasingly strong storms. This is due to the continued warming of ocean waters, which is contributing to the intensification of hurricanes, making them stronger and more destructive.

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What's being done about extreme weather issues?

Hunters and land managers in Louisiana continue to work on clearing downed trees and controlling invasive hog populations, and KPLC noted night hunting to address the hog problem.

More broadly, as global temperature increases, the probability of extreme weather events increases as well. In an effort to combat this, many countries around the world have enacted initiatives to reduce heat-trapping pollution. These efforts include adapting to renewable energy resources, improving energy efficiency, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. 

One way that you can help at home is to install solar panels alongside battery storage, which can help you make your home more resilient when extreme weather events do occur.

Solar-powered battery storage can help keep your electricity on. EnergySage provides a free service that makes it easy to compare quotes from trusted local installers and save up to $10,000 on a solar installation. 

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