Video shows Hurricane Laura’s overwhelming wind blowing the windows of the Capital One Tower – an all-glass office building that dominates the skyline in Lake Charles, La., Where the storm caused massive damage.
It shows windows flying from the face of the building as the whistling wind howls in the dark.
Photos taken after sunrise showed gaping holes and broken glass where the windows should have been. Hurricane Rita also damaged the building in 2005 and it went through years of renovations that included “ballistic protection” for the exterior glass panels, according to the architectural firm that handled the repairs.
LAURA DROPS REINFAL, COURSE ON ARKANSAS TO WINDS LEFT DESTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA, TEXAS
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the city’s storm damage in a Facebook post on Thursday night.
The windows of the Capital One Tower have been blown out after Hurricane Laura struck as a Category 4 storm on August 27, in Lake Charles, La. (Hilary Scheinuk / The Advocate via AP)
“As I sit typing this message, I do not even know where to begin,” he wrote. “The last 24 hours have felt like a bad science-fiction novel as a week. One news story I told Laura above is the ‘strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in 150 years.’ ‘
Laura’s Category 4 strength 150 mph winds when it was attacked in Cameron, La., Starting Thursday just 7 mph during a Category 5 storm.
HURRICANE LAURA LIVE UPDATES: LOUISIANA, TEXAS COAST SLUDMS WITH DAMAGE, FLOOD
What the structure looked like before.
In Lake Charles, the massive damage caused by the storm was evident with defects falling apart, houses stripped of their roofs, and a raging chemical fire. Laura also blew over trees, blocked roads and knocked out most of the city’s utilities.
Hunter said he could not estimate a time when power and running water would be restored.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS COVERAGE
“So in principle, when you return to Lake Charles to stay, make sure you understand the above reality and are willing to live many days, probably weeks, in it,” he wrote. “‘Look and Leave’ is truly the best option for many.”
Dustin Amos walks near Pun at a gas station on August 27, in Lake Charles, La., After Hurricane Laura moved through the state. (AP Photo / Gerald Herbert)
The storm, although weakening to tropical depression after traveling far inland, was still active Thursday night above Arkansas with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph per 11 pm ET.
At the time, the storm was about 30 miles past Little Rock, moving north-northeast at about 15 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The threat of flooding was still present with heavy rainfall expected to pass through parts of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
The storm is expected to continue through Arkansas overnight and into the middle of the Mississippi Valley on Friday, forecasts show. It will hit the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday and continue across the western Atlantic on Sunday.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Tornadoes were possible from central and eastern Arkansas to Mississippi through Thursday night, according to the weather service.
