After Laura, Learning How To Recover From A Hurricane During A Pandemic

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 disasters at once. Coronavirus case numbers in Southwest Louisiana were already spiking at an alarming rate. Then a Category 4 hurricane came ashore. While Laura spared Houston and New Orleans, more than 600,000 homes were in the path of the storm, which caused widespread power outages and disrupted the water system. “It’s definitely more stressful,” says Tory Carter as she waits to pick up her supplies. She evacuated to Austin with her 5-year-old son and mother as the storm approached. Now, she’s come back to take stock of the damage and get back to her job. “It’s rough staying