Month: August 2020

On this week’s Petrie Dish, we explore what happened in Louisiana and Southeast Texas when Hurricane Laura landed — and what other hurricane hotspots like Florida, Alabama and Mississippi can learn from the deadly storm.   A hurricane presents its own kind of health emergency, but as the U.S. continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus, a hurricane mixed into a pandemic creates a whole new swirl of challenges. And this event may be only the…

In Orange, Texas, just across the Sabine River from Louisiana, a line of cars hundreds deep snakes along a highway shoulder and into a parking lot. A local supermarket has set up an aid distribution center in the hot sun and humidity. Families are packed in their cars, waiting to get the basics: ice, water, a hot meal. Hurricane Laura is the first major test of whether the Gulf Coast is prepared to handle two…

“Our workforce will continue its safe, quick work until everyone’s power is restored,” Entergy Texas said on the company’s website. JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — Entergy Texas said utility workers have restored nearly 60 percent of the electrical power outages caused by Hurricane Laura.  “Our workforce will continue its safe, quick work until everyone’s power is restored,” the company said on their website.  On the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 27 just hours after Hurricane Laura made…

Layla Winbush walks over the debris of her family’s destroyed auto detailing business in Lake Charles, La., in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. Layla Winbush walks over the debris of her family’s destroyed auto detailing business in Lake Charles, La., in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Image 1 of 39 Layla Winbush…