LAKE CHARLES, La. — Rubble, glass and debris has been swept away from streets of Lake Charles, allowing more people in to help rebuild.
“It just does not look the same. Nothing looks the same,” Del Prudhomme said. “Every day I come back into town and it looks better and better. They’ve been doing a phenomenal job getting the city cleared out.”
Prudhomme worked at Gigi’s downtown for seven years. It’s unrecognizable inside after the roof collapsed into the gym.
“I cried about that,” he said. “You spend so much time building something and build your heart and soul into it and one morning it’s gone.”
But just around the corner, Wayne Schexnayder from Kenner is cooking batches of jambalaya for linemen, cleanup crews and anyone else who needs a warm meal.
“It’s in bad shape and people need it,” he said.
Schexnayder’s daughter raised $10,000 to bring in food and supplies from New Orleans.
“It’s been great to help everybody,” Brittany Hyatt, who came to help rebuild, said. “We’re no strangers to devastation down south.”
And while residents are cleaning their yards and homes, linemen are picking up power lines around every corner, hoping to restore power in the coming weeks.
“It’s part of the recovery process,” Ryan Harts said.
Harts, a local DJ, has a tree through his home. Like many of his neighbors, he sees the progress around the city being made every day.
“There’s always people moving,” he said
One day at a time, Lake Charles is picking up the pieces and making steps towards recovery.
Many of the people we’re speaking with also went through Hurricane Rita. They said the damage is worse, but the recovery has been faster.
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