Hammond, LA
September 1, 2020
S O U T H E A S T E R N L O U I S IA NA U N I V E R S I T Y
A wobble, luck and preparations lessened Laura’s devastation BY SETH BORENSTEIN, State University hurricane MELINDA DESLATTE AND researcher Phil Klotzbach said. JANET MCCONNAUGHEY Lauren Sylvester heeded the Associated Press mandatory evacuation, leaving her townhouse in Lake Charles LAKE CHARLES, La. on Wednesday to stay with her (AP) — Hurricane Laura was a mom in New Iberia. Between the monster storm that could have, evacuation order and the storm even should have, wreaked much surge projections, she didn’t more destruction than it did, want to take a risk. except for a few lucky breaks “On the TV, the picture kept and some smart thinking by Gulf getting worse and worse. They Coast residents, experts say. said it was going to be 9 feet and Just before striking Louisiana, above. It was freaking me out so Laura wobbled. It wasn’t much, much,” Sylvester said Friday. “I maybe 15 miles (24 kilometers) didn’t want to be stuck in my for a Category 4 storm that was attic with no way to get out.” nearly the width of two states. Her home was right in the “red But it was enough to move the zone” of 9 feet (2.7 meters) of worst of the storm surge east of flooding, but “it didn’t happen,” Lake Charles and into a far less she said. populated area. She came home to some lost And even before that, Laura shingles and downed trees. There threaded a needle between well- was no water damage. populated New Orleans, Port “We got really lucky,” she Arthur and Houston and came said. “We were really blessed.” ashore in Cameron Parish, which Lawrence “Lee” Faulk of is the second least-populated nearby Grand Lake, a member county along the coast. The of the Cameron Parish governing population of the average body called a police jury, said if Atlantic and Gulf Coast county the storm had been 10 miles (16 is 322,000 people. Cameron kilometers) to the west, “Lake Parish has less than 7,000. Charles and this part of the parish Before Laura struck, local would have got all that water.” governments and residents took National Hurricane Center the right steps and got out of storm surge specialist Jamie harm’s way for the most part, a Rhome referred to the storm’s veteran New Orleans disaster last-minute course change as the expert said. “little wobble that saved” Lake The storm was still Charles. In the end, the city got devastating, but not quite as maybe half the storm surge it catastrophic as it might have could have received, he said. been. The worst storm surge is to “It was really, really bad the east of a hurricane’s eyewall instead of apocalyptic,” Colorado because of the combination of
Wedding dresses hang within a pile of debris at a store in Lake Charles, La., Friday, Aug. 28, 2020. Residents and business owners were slowly making their way back into the city following Hurricane Laura. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/ The New Orleans Advocate via AP) the storm’s counterclockwise whirl and northward movement. As Laura wobbled more to the east, Lake Charles got the eyewall, and the worst surge hit farther east in the marshlands, Klotzbach said. Before the storm arrived, the hurricane center warned of up to 20 feet (6 meters) of storm surge, and Rhome said it was in that ballpark. Storm surge warnings and estimates represent the most reasonable bad scenario, or the
worst 10% of the thousands of calculations meteorologists make, Rhome said. Emergency managers use those figures to get their evacuation messages across properly, said hurricane expert Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami. Much like the now-forgotten Hurricane Bret that hit Texas in 1999, the location where Laura came ashore also made a big difference, he said. “There aren’t that many
lowly inhabited places along the coastline, and it managed to find one of them,” McNoldy said. Another factor was simply smart behavior by the local population, experts said. Shirley Laska, a sociologist who studied Louisiana disasters at the University of New Orleans and co-founded the Lowlander Center, said parish leaders, emergency managers and citizens did the right thing before the storm. “I’m pretty much a cynic and
a critic, but I think these parishes did wonderfully. And I mean both the citizens and the leaders,” Laska said. “But they got out of Dodge. They evacuated as they were told.” Elizabeth Griffin Tietjens, a veterinarian in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, fled her house on Monday after hearing repeated warnings about Laura. She drove 12 hours to be with her husband at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. Upon her return Friday, she found huge wind-torn gaps in the roof of her home. Her landlord, Kevin Pickett, and his entire family fled too. “Everybody left, everybody learned their lesson during (2005’s Hurricane) Rita,” Pickett said, “and so everybody vacated.” Laska said she believes the monthslong pandemic helped make everyone more attentive to risk. Add to that Tropical Storm Marco, which threatened the region only a few days earlier and then fizzled. People were prepared well ahead of time. Danny Lavergne, director of the Cameron Office of Emergency Preparedness, acknowledged that Laura inflicted the worst damage the area ever got. But, he said, “There’s nobody missing, no one injured, no one dead.” Most of the 150 to 200 people who refused to evacuate were on the western end of the parish. “They survived the wind because there was no water,” Lavergne said.
Lion Traxx takes additional safety measures OSE director shares screen Shuttle services cut capacity in half, increased disinfection process and works only one route in a Netflix film with Jamie Foxx
The Lion Traxx shuttles have made several adjustments to abide by the new health and safety policies. The number of routes, stops and passengers allowed on each shuttle has been reduced, in addition to extra sanitation measures. (Brynn Lundy/The Lion’s Roar) ELANA GUILLORY Staff Reporter
Over the summer, Lion Traxx implemented new safety precautions following statewide efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus on campus. Capacity on the shuttles has been cut in half, disinfection concludes each shift and passengers undergo symptom
checks before boarding, according to Gary Prescott, director of Transportation Services. “The smaller shuttles are allowed to have 10 passengers at a time while the large shuttle is allowed 20 passengers,” stated Prescott. “This measure was put into place to help with spacing issues and will limit the seating to one person per
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row. Each passenger is asked to perform a symptoms check before boarding. If they are experiencing any COVID-like symptoms, they are asked not to ride.” Prescott mentioned that, like the rest of campus, students are required to wear masks on the shuttles. Plexiglass shields around the driver’s seat have also been installed to provide
additional safety. Lion Traxx routes have also been reworked in accordance with capacity limitations. Prescott elaborated on the changes. “Due to the passenger restrictions, we were forced to temporarily close one route and seven shuttle stops, leaving only two active stops for this semester,” stated Prescott. “Currently, the only two active stops are located at the University Center Section 2 and at the Student Union on the south side of the library. Because of the reduced capacity, we have also increased the number of shuttles and drivers during our peak hours.” Continuous disinfection systems will also be placed on the shuttles in coming weeks, according to the director. Prescott left a message of gratitude for students. “Thank you to our riders for being very understanding and patient with us during this time,” said Prescott. “Transportation Services is doing the best we can to provide the highest level of safety for everyone on campus. If you ride the shuttle this semester, please make sure to follow all of the safety protocols in place to help us maintain a safe and clean environment. Also, please take a moment to thank your driver for their awesome job.”
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Campus Life.................................2 Opinions.....................................3 A&E............................................4
Campus Life.................................5 Sports & Fitness...........................6
Marjorie Parker/ Courtesy of University Communication and Creative Services SYMIAH DORSEY Staff Reporter
University staff members have many passions outside of their nine to fives, some of which include starring in Netflix films. Marjorie Parker, director of student engagement, shared the screen with Jamie Foxx in the new Netflix movie “Project Power.” The New Orleans based film trended number one on Netflix during its debut weekend and maintained the streak for 10 days. Parker’s scene took place inside a Church’s Chicken restaurant as she played the server waiting on Foxx. She shared her experience working alongside the Academy Award winning actor. “Jamie Foxx’s energy was magnetic from the time he walked in the restaurant,” said Parker. “He had a Bluetooth speaker with him, taking song requests, singing and telling jokes. He was a lot of fun to work with on set.” Parker shared how Foxx made the long filming process and an easy-going experience. “We were in Church’s Chicken for hours,” mentioned Parker. “We filmed multiple camera angles. Jamie Foxx made it so see NETFLIX, pg. 2 Stay Connected With Us! Like and follow @lionsroarnews.
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