I’m from Lake Charles and evacuated to DeRidder, I remember I went to sleep around 11pm August 26 and Waking up August 27 around 2:15AM because the power went out and my fan quit working. I got up and remember hearing Laura’s winds and being absolutely terrified because this was my first hurricane I’ve ever been through. I felt the house shake as if I were by a railroad track and I remember praying for many other people who were in the path of this monster storm! The winds didn’t die down until 5-6AM on my end. Something I will never forget!

This is my home. Still no electricity. No water. But we are strong. And we will rebuild and come back. So many lost their homes. And so many sleeping under the stars every night. This video has shown exactly what our home went through and the damage Laura caused. So many people from far off even our own Governor had proclaimed ‘it’s not that bad’ YES IT IS!!!! It is BAD!

Thank you for showing the full amount of devastation my city has endured! When the hurricane leaves, the media leaves. Sooooo many people are without homes and jobs now,myself included! It is the most lost feeling ever. But we are Lake Charles Strong and definitely resilient. We will rebuild!

You guys we have suffered tremendously. The media is not covering this like it should be. We have been swept under the rug. The majority of the country has no clue about the massive amounts of devastation left behind. We are starving, homeless, without power, and hot. Expected power restore time is a month. The heat index is 110° and climbing. Our governor is extremely downplaying this and telling the world it "wasnt that bad." Please please please share this video everywhere. WE ARE SCREAMING FOR HELP IN A WORLD THAT CANNOT HEAR US.

I live 20 miles east of Lake Charles and stayed through the storm. I can’t imagine being in the city during that night that was only one week ago. I pray that the country sees this so that we can get the help we need. Thank you for risking your lives. Stay safe in your future endeavors.

The lack of media coverage is disturbing

I work for KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, my home town. The entire region is completely annihilated and will take years to recover. But there are boots on the ground there now, just over a week later, and neighbor helping neighbor. The people who call SWLA home are an interesting mix of resilient near-anarchists who will do what is necessary while helping others no-questions-asked. While heartbroken at the devastating loss, I am so proud to call this place my home.

Oh this breaks my heart. I went thru Hurricane Michael in 2018. My heart and prayers go out to everyone devastated by Hurricane Laura. I know the media is not covering this storms aftermath. I'm glad these guys have brought attention with this amazing documentary.

Laura has officially caused more than 10 billion in damage and continues to go up. This storm was definitely historic and will be remembered.

Thank you a thousand times for doing this, it seems like the rest of the world doesn't care about swla.

As a resident of the area, I greatly appreciate your video & bringing much needed attention to our ravaged community.

4 -15 Billion in estimated damage. A plant explosion. We need to help these people. There is not enough coverage and people need our help.

I live in lake charles , I stayed HOME during Hurricane Laura and to watch this on a screen was nothing to imagine in real life. I will never stay for another hurricane. Thank God we survived ‼️

I’m from Iowa and didn’t evacuate.. I lived in a double wide. The houses around me were brick homes. I was the only home on the street that didn’t take on much damage (just a few shingles and sidings blew off). Most of the brick homes were wrecked, their roofs caved in, trees sliced through the homes like toothpicks. My neighbor said I was lucky and wanted to know where I got my mobile home.. lol.

It's sad that pretty much everyone forgot about this storm and it's destruction.

It's been nearly 2 years now, I'm a resident of the area and have been for 20+ years. The damages done to the residences of Lake Charles, I'm from Sulphur, and surrounding areas was extremely catastrophic. If was able to capture every part of the area damaged the most, the video would be at least 6 hours long from all the debris. I lived Northern part of Sulphur off of Highway 27 going towards DeQuincy. That part had massive destruction. The neighbor at the beginning of the street I lived on, their whole house got completely leveled and absolutely no trees was surrounding their house. When we got to our house, we couldn't even reach our house. We had to park all of our vehicles on the road because pine trees were blocking the road completely. Pretty much walked through the destruction of fallen trees and we did have a few trees leaning on our 2 story house but since they were so close to the house they didn't have enough momentum to fall completely through but landed on my room, I'm a gamer so those trees landed where my gaming stuff is (not cheap). But lucky enough that none of my stuff got damage but couple other things did in my room. After assessing the damages, my grandpa that stayed has a tractor that survived the storm and we used it and chainsaws to clear the trees that were blocking the road so that the fellow neighbors can go to their houses. Took us 5 hours to clear a path. It took us 4 days to make a small dent to our property of clearing up all the debris and some trees that were more safe to cut down. Then of course you got these greedy tree companies that took advantage of us that are devasted with crazy high prices to get rid of trees that were down. For us, it cost us $10,000 to get a 40' Oak Tree off the house cause it was in the backyard and had to use a crane to get rid of it, then they helped cleared a couple more of the sketchy trees that were binded (unsafe for us to cut). As for electricity, we didn't get power back for 37 days because the electrical company had to pretty much rebuild and run all new wires around my area. Just the street alone I lived on had to get 12 new poles, then wires and transformers. I do HVAC (Air Conditioning) for a living so for the 1st year I was replacing a lot of equipment and everything due to Hurricane damages. The sad thing was that people couldn't really afford a new system because these so called house insurance agencies didn't want to properly reimbursed people for damages done by the Hurricane. A LOT of people, including a co worker, had to sue the insurance company because they didn't want to reimburse the proper amount to pay for the damages. Here's a little story of a customer we had and it's freaking sad: The company I work for has a customer, she's 92 (at the time of the work done), she's been a customer of State Farm for 60+ years. Her house had major damage from Hurricane Laura that her house had to get completely gutted down to the studs. State Farm, sent out an inspector to look at the HVAC system to see if it had been damaged and when he got done looking at it, he told the lady that it's completely fine. Well the company I work for went out and looked at it and within a few seconds, we said that everything needs to be ripped out cause everything is filled with MOLD. How did the inspector missed MOLD, because not doing his job properly and screwing their customer. Sorry if you're an inspector reading this and whatnot but people's taxes are your paycheck just to remind you so do your job, simple as that. To carry on. Since the ladies house was old with cast iron piping for plumbing, old electrical wires without no proper grounding, everything had to be ripped out because a real inspector came and told her that her house was unsafe with outdated plumbing and electrical so had to redo all of that. When it came down to getting a reimbursement of the damages from her insurance company, State Farm, they didn't want to give you the proper amount needed for all the repairs, they only gave her 10% of the total cost of the repairs, which was bull. She had nearly $80k worth of damages to her house and State Farm only wanted to give her like $10k to do her whole entire house. That price would barely cover the cost of a new roof, which she did first. Thanks to my boss and a bunch of people we know, State Farm actually paid her what she rightfully deserved for being a customer for 60+ years. So be careful with insurance companies, they're sketchy. I still live here in Lake Charles and yes a bunch of people left, but a lot of us stayed. We got devastated by a powerful Hurricane, but this place is OUR HOME, we're slowly rebuilding and a bunch of it has been rebuilt. Even if we didn't get much news media coverage, we're a community of neighbors helping neighbors. We're somewhat tired because we've been through a lot of crazy mother nature events. Guess what mother nature, you may bring us down for awhile but we'll get back up and be strong cause we're #LouisianaStrong 💪 and Lake Charles, Sulphur, Moss Bluff and all the surrounded areas is OUR HOME and we're not going anywhere. Tell me what other places have been through 2 Hurricanes, a hail storm, a crazy flood, an ice storm and all during the pandemic in a 7 month span and still the community is still standing tall of HOME? Definitely not on news media because we show how it's done. #LousianaStrong #WeNeverGiveUp #ThisIsOurHome And thanks for the little documentary of what Hurricane Laura did to our Home.

really makes you want to smack those folks that said the storm didn't do that much damage.

THIS! This is the video i have been waiting and searching for, well done 👏🏼 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼

Damn, even the birds evacuated

It’s still heartbreaking to see that my Lake Charles/Sulphur family went through this. I grew up in Sulphur and my father lost his home of almost 11 years. All of our childhood memories are gone! Demolished! I cried watching this video of Laura destroying the places I’ve lived at my whole life. Please pray for all of us and to come up and help us rebuild and make our home normal again. We need all we can get. 💔💔😭😭

Oh my God you guys are fantastic. Incredible footage and a well prepared crew.

Thank you for creating this documentary. I was there four days before the storm hit and I am appalled by the small amount of media coverage. Disorganized chaos and division rules their narrative and everything else gets ignored. #LouisianaStrong #ThankYouLineMen #ThankstoAll4HelpingLA

Thank you for showing the world what we have gone through and still are going through. I have tried reaching out to numerous organizations to get help. I was given an excuse from everyone of them. It's easy to turn the TV off and close your eyes and forget what you just seen. But if you live here there is no escaping it as it's your life. Between Covid and Laura we had the double punch to try and knock us down!!! We are Louisiana strong and will rebuild and come back to what we once were. Thank you to all who has helped in whatever way you did!!!!

Thank you for creating this documentary. It is interesting to see another stormchaser's perspective of the horror that was Laura. Some people were on a live feed from Reed Timmer's car which he left to go and film his new tv series. I am surprised the stream kept going and even remotely it was a scary experience. I didnt expect the devastation to be so immense.

Thank you guys so much. We feel like the world has forgotten about us. We still have no power or clean water. My city is a war zone. 😢

Thank you for covering this for us. #LouisianaStrong

Please send that video to JBE who said it wasn't so bad as it was suppose yo be . He's a sick man.

I am a Lake Charles resident. Thank you for this fantastic coverage. When we evacuate, what actually occurs during the storm is a great mystery as media coverage does not show the true grit that your documentary reveals. You've represented us well and it is much appreciated.

Coming back home to Lake Charles on the 29th after having stayed with family in Baton Rouge, It was surreal and unreal. Never before in my 50 years of life have I seen so much widespread devastation. I moved to Sulphur within two weeks after having lost my townhouse in Lake Charles only to have to evacuate again for Delta two weeks after that. What a year.

Those Wendy’s signs will survive WW3 😂

Phenomenal video. Heart of Bravery. I can't imagine the fustration living there having to cope with Storms, we complain over here in The UK jeeez

Thank you! This brings tears to my eyes to see my hometown like this. To see my family rebuild. Lake Charles definitely didn’t get the coverage that it deserved but thank God for people like you! 🙌🏽

Thank you guys. The world needs to know what we go through. What us in lake charles have suffered through. The footage is horrifying the war zone afterward even more. Let's get this out there thank you chasers for the footage. People need to understand we are mostly left with nothing and still continuing to suffer afterwards.

I appreciate that y’all showed the impact on the community instead of just “whoa look at this terrifying storm”. My thoughts really go out to those affected.

That beautiful sky before the fury. One last breath before death, amazing.

Thanks for recording this. I’m from Hackberry. Sharing now

I was not prepared to see this, but so glad I did. Thank you!

I was there, I can't believe you captured the glass busting out in the big building downtown... It's like a glass storm. Awesome job.

Thank You Guys and Gals for all that you do. Stay safe. We're praying for you all🙏🙏🙏

Thank you for this documentary. It truly makes me sad to see the impact of this hurricane.

My heart goes out to those in LA and Texas. I'm so sorry, praying.

best video I've seen of the storm's strength and impact by far.

Sending love and blessings from Puerto Rico. We lived something similar with Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Still trying to recover... and now 2020 is shaking us with earthquakes... my prayers are with you.

Great job on this documentary. As a native of central Louisiana. I will never forget this hurricane!😢😢 Glad you guys were ok during the making of this video.

Amazing job! Thank you for showing us the magnitude of the impacts.

This HAS to be the most impactful telling of Laura produced. So well done, outstanding videography, and right in the eye of action. Brought tears to my eyes (having lived in Lake Charles many years, and my children and grandchildren still living in Moss Bluff-thank God they are fine-and being a survivor of Katrina and Rita) this says it all. Thank you for your skill and your ability to meet the challenges.

Really enjoyed this! Thanks for taking the time to make it for us to watch.

As I watch this awesome documentary almost 1 year later, this just brings back that eerie feeling I felt on this day as my family and I had to evacuate due to this Devastating storm approaching. Just when we thought Hurricane Rita was bad, "and it was", Hurricane Laura was "THE ABSOLUTE WORST" storm the city of Lake Charles Louisiana had EVER seen!!!! It literally looked like an Atom bomb was dropped directly on the city! 1 year later, we are STILL rebuilding from this catastrophic storm or "Freak of nature" if you will!! To the guys that filmed this documentary, Thank you for risking it all to shed some insight on what happened here in Lake Charles Louisiana in August of 2020, Sometimes the world tends to forget about devastating things that happen in smaller cities.

My dad, myself, and my son stayed for Laura in our home in Lake Charles. Scariest thing in my entire life. The aftermath was the worst. I will never forget those sounds throughout the night.

I was in Lake Charles a month ago it’s crazy to see what was done such an amazing community. Sending love and prayers!

Unbelievable. The lack of mainstream media coverage is deplorable. These are fellow Americans that need help. Thank you for sharing your account of what really happened. Very eye opening. Praying for a rapid recovery for Lake Charles and all the surrounding communities. 🙏🏻🇺🇸

Dude..... Awesome!! Thank You So Much!

Thank you so much for asking for help for our city and community!!

This is some of the best footage I have ever seen. Great stuff! Thanks a million!

You did an amazing job on this video. I can feel your heart is as broken as those of us who live hear. It will be a long road to recovery of our city and surrounding towns, but we will come back stronger than ever. GOD BLESS

My heart just goes out to everyone caught up by the devastation of this hurricane x sending love and thoughts from 🇬🇧

I feel sorry for all those lives that were lost and the damage caused to business and homes. I hope they can rebuild it as soon as possible. Wish you all the best luck, from Brazil.

Thank you for bringing this awareness to my city✌️❤️🖤❤️....

Amazing job on the documentary! This is television quality! I hope you eventually get the chance to make it big on television if that is what you want!

lake Charles is where i am right now it feels really different because i thought this was never gonna happen but it did and the fact that three other hurricanes were heading towards us is so sad but thx for filming this it means a lot thank you

This just..breaks my heart. I am so sorry to anyone who suffered a loss durning this horrid storm. I hope you all stay safe. Its just..mind blowing what our Earth can do.....how powerful..

Love the Dying Light esq synthwave soundtrack in the background.

4:30 That was a massive power flash!

This is amazing! I'm a viewer from Hawaii and had no idea it was this bad!! Thank you so much for filming this!

Thank you for sharing this. It was fascinating and heartbreaking to watch. And thank you for asking/ reminding us to give aid.

I evacuated to San Antonio for this. There were so many twisters here and there, I learned. There was actually one directly in the trailer park I lived in and yet our [my family's] trailer stood. There was one trailer- just about a minute walk away- that got completely flipped over. Seeing the picture made me shiver, and it took weeks, up to a month to get back into my trailer. My parents were home, but I wasn't. This affected me horribly because now I don't even like seeing rain anymore.. Edit: the worst part? I couldn't even celebrate my birthday normally

No looting, no finger-pointing or blaming ANYONE. Amazing to see so many people helping from all parts of our state. Lake Charles - STRONG!

I lived through this just miles away from the Tower yall filmed. Definitely an experience some would only want to have once

I live one mile from where y'all where filming. I was blessed I had minimal damage to my home. We are strong we will get through this together. Lake Charles strong

Thank you for this. My city is wrecked.

This was an amazing video. I had so much anxiety while watching it, I absolutely cannot imagine living through it! Thanks to the videographers who put their lives in danger. I cannot imagine being out in that! I’m so sorry, and this is a reminder for me to be more mindful when the next hurricane happens. I had no idea what it was like!! I’m still so anxious about it! My heart goes out to all the people impacted by these monster storms. Those glass buildings - man oh man. Those homes. 😢

Guys, amazing job. Incredible

WOW,that was extremely intense and scary watching this video.Great documentary guys!!👌👏

I can’t believe how destructive hurricanes are. You guys did a great job filming this.

Dear Tornado Trackers, thank you for telling us the storms,twisters,hurricanes,heavy rain,flash floods. you are very very very brave. Love lux, one more thing im having a hurricane in the cost 2020 septemer 15 in the coast the name is Hurricane Sally. Stay safe! Stay healthy!!

Thank you what an awesome documentary, well done ♥️

My brother lives very close to Leesville which is quite a ways north of Lake Charles. He had 3 trees fall on his house. He woke up when the power went out that night to turn on his generator and before he got to his bedroom door, the tree crashed through his roof behind him onto his bed that 30 seconds before he was laying on. It was horrible. Thank God he was ok! I had several other friends that had damage to their homes and property because of the storms. (even farther north)

Cool seeing Reed Timmer’s “dominator” knowing that they were in progress of shooting a disney+ doc. Alot different perspectives yet in the same location

This video is brilliant on many levels.. And the score is absolutely brilliant..

I really respect and appreciate storm chasers!

Nicely done! I like the swaying of the trees and the sweet sleepy puppy.

Thank you!

It is unreal the power that some of these storms bring.

This is an exceptional video

My all time favorite Utube videos are these hurricane chase ones. You guys do an awesome job. I’m so weather deprived here in So Cal.

Awesome documentation of Laura! Lake Charles has got to be the most unlucky city in the USA recently. After this they got hit with Cat 2 Delta not even 10 months later, then a freeze/ice storm, and a severe flooding event in early 2021.

Move over Jim Cantore. These guys have my utmost respect. I don't even think Jim would have rode this out in a parking garage. Very impressive.

Glass buildings are cool until a Hurricane blows through.

Its amazing how long the electricity stayed on..I'm in mw Louisiana. I was on standby with my SAR dogs

omg you guys were right about this being “swept under the rug.” i never even heard of a hurricane this year! at all! i hope you are doing ok

This is really sad, thanks for covering this. I am not from the US and didnt even know this happened!

The only thing that would have made this better was to follow up after the storm in the small rural areas that have been wiped out. It would have been great to see the team contact local volunteer fire depts to get guides to take them to the hard hit areas that are still without power and will be for many more weeks. We are thankful for the help we have received and upset that nationally no one knows the full devastation. Great work Tornado Trackers!

I was crying most of the video because Lake Charles has always been a place to go shopping, hang out with friends, and that's where I worked for a while. The devastation is real and so heartbreaking. The portapotty sliding by made me kinda laugh though through the tears. I know Louisiana, Lake Charles, Cameron, DeRidder, Vinton, and all surrounding communities will bounce back. #LouisianaStrong

Aug 27 is a kind of misfortinate date Krakatoa erupted on the same date

You boys have a lot of courage. To be out in that weather with a cat 4 coming in... I take my hat off to all that was there. Great job 👍 I'm glad you all are safe! Fantastic job! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Well done sir!

"This right here is the worst part of the storm." Me:it's a hurricane category 4 to 5 wdym storm?!

It’s so crazy to see the city I grew up and still live in, places I drive by, grew up near, places I can physically be at, get destroyed right before my eyes

Just gained another sub, great video!!!

Oh. My. God. This video is EPIC! Love it... Giving me shivers