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Storm chasers capture intense moments on video as Hurricane Laura roars ashore
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Sheet metal hangs off a building, trees and wires in downtown Orange, Texas after Hurricane Laura in Orange on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
Sheet metal hangs off a building, trees and wires in downtown Orange, Texas after Hurricane Laura in Orange on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
Photo: Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
Sheet metal hangs off a building, trees and wires in downtown Orange, Texas after Hurricane Laura in Orange on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
Sheet metal hangs off a building, trees and wires in downtown Orange, Texas after Hurricane Laura in Orange on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
Photo: Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
It didn’t take long for veteran storm chaser Jeff Piotrowski to step into gear, helping people out after Hurricane Laura ravaged communities in Louisiana. He captured all the intense moments from the beginning as Laura eyed the Gulf Coast to landfall, and now to rescue and recovery.
“THERE AIN’T NO WAY TO GET TO THEM”: Storm victims who rode out Hurricane Laura asking for help
In Piotrowski’s Thursday morning update, he tweeted about finding a man in the middle of storm surge water, after his house collapsed near I-10.
“He was trapped under walls,” Piotrowski tweeted. “Have another local taking him to mother’s house. Finding people in the water.”
He also filmed the Capitol One building in Lake Charles as it was being “shredded” by high winds.
HURRICANE GUIDE: Ongoing coverage throughout hurricane season from Chron.com
“I can confirm we have some injuries in downtown Lake Charles,” Piotrowski tweeted. “Flying glass from some of the skyscrapers fell on people…don’t know the extent of the injuries.
When tornadoes threatened as the eye wall pushed into Lake Charles, Piotrowski warned residents about the possibility of tornadoes.
“Multiple waves of tornadoes developing. This is going to continue to ramp up, ” Piotrowski tweeted.
Another storm chaser, Reed Timmer, captured footage of buildings ripped by the high winds in the powerful eye wall of Laura.
Timmer filmed the utter devastation and damage to Hackberry, Louisiana after the intense storm surge.
As the eye of the monster storm developed, storm chaser Josh Morgerman filmed the winds savagely lashing the trees in Sulphur Louisiana.
“We got lucky, because I got 9 lives,” Morgerman tweeted. “Whoa!”
One of the most gut-wrenching moments came when this Weather Channel reporter Stephanie Abrams stood outside in the most powerful winds and rain. Things turned south when 150 mph winds sent glass shattering, and this reporter running for cover.
“You can see it’s already starting to knock us off our feet,” Weather Channel Stephanie Abrams said. “We’re watching the water very closely as that will be rising.”
alison.medley@chron.com