LAFAYETTE PARISH — Severe weather knocked down trees, power lines, and left a path of destruction across Lafayette Parish late Monday evening.
The storm brought Lafayette Parish to a standstill and left over 100,000 customers in South Louisiana without electricity.
Albert Glaude Sr.’s home was one of several homes damaged by the storm in Lafayette Parish.
“I heard a loud bang,” said Albert who said he initially thought it was lightning that struck his home. “I knew this was coming because we had all these warnings but I wasn’t thinking it was going to hit me and I survived many hurricanes here and never had this kind of damage before.”
Though not as severe as other areas in South Louisiana, the destruction seen at Glaude’s home is just one of many sites across Lafayette Parish.
Albert recounts the evening of the storm, “It wiped out two bedrooms and we were thinking we would have to go to a motel, it really was looking bad. Water all over the floor and some water in the den right here too.”
Down the street, Ricardo Cowans watched as crews removed a downed tree from his driveway.
“ It smashed the fence and was covering the entire street and covering the entire driveway, I didn’t have access to my driveway…,” said Ricardo.
Several people reported trees being completely uprooted from their backyard and fell on homes, many others without electricity.
Students of Acadiana High School and Duson Elementary School arrived at the school on Tuesday morning only to be notified that both schools were closed due to power outages. A major concern for parents who were not informed beforehand.
Meanwhile, as the clean up continues, local contractors say the calls for help with removal of trees have been non-stop since Monday.
Clean up of downed trees and power restoration was ongoing late Tuesday afternoon.
