Louisiana
Watch: Louisiana skyscraper demolished 4 years after Hurricane Laura left it in tatters
![Watch: Louisiana skyscraper demolished 4 years after Hurricane Laura left it in tatters Watch: Louisiana skyscraper demolished 4 years after Hurricane Laura left it in tatters](https://images.foxweather.com/static.foxweather.com/www.foxweather.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1024/512/video_capture_00536.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Video captured the moments the Capital One Tower in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was demolished on Saturday. The building was 22 stories tall and the largest skyscraper in the region but was largely empty following the impacts of Hurricane Laura in 2020.
LAKE CHARLES, La. – A 22-story skyscraper that stood over southwest Louisiana for four years after being damaged during Hurricane Laura finally came down Saturday with the help of controlled explosives.
The Capital One Tower in downtown Lake Charles had been largely vacant since sustaining severe damage from Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm.
For years, there was ongoing debate about the building’s future, but ultimately, the property owner chose to have it taken down versus embark on a costly repair project.
Less than 20 seconds after detonation, the once-towering structure was reduced to a tangled wreckage along the banks of Lake Charles.
TOP 5 COSTLIEST HURRICANES IN US HISTORY
Hurricane Laura Track
(FOX Weather)
“We cannot allow these buildings to sit untouched indefinitely,” Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter previously stated in a post-recovery address. “The problem will fester. Unaddressed, this issue will lower property values, increase blight, and affect our neighborhoods negatively all around. We must have a heart and open ear to those still facing challenges, but we must also have a heart and open ear to those neighbors who are living next door to these derelict structures.”
The skyscraper had been a landmark for drivers traveling along Interstate 10 since its opening in 1983.
Following the demolition and cleanup, there remains considerable uncertainty about what will be developed on the site.
Lake Charles and the surrounding parishes were among the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Laura, which caused damage estimated to exceed $23 billion.
NOAA reports more than 40 people were killed in the U.S. following the cyclone’s trek through the Gulf Coast and into the Mississippi Valley,
About six weeks after Laura, parts of the same region were impacted by Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 cyclone.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN A SEPTEMBER WITHOUT A TROPICAL STORM?
The Gulf Coast was particularly hard hit during the record-breaking 2020 season.
Between April and December, 30 named storms formed, which included 14 hurricanes, and 7 major cyclones with winds of at least 115 mph.
At the time, damage for the 2020 hurricane season was estimated to be around $50 billion, ranking it among the top five costliest seasons in the U.S.
Since then, seasons in 2021 and 2022 have surpassed 2020 in terms of their financial impact, pushing the historic year down in the rankings.
Despite this, the 2020 season remains within the top 10 costliest hurricane seasons of all time.
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Louisiana
Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy
![Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/f2/6f2fb8f3-d49d-53d3-9ee6-7c1ce9ce1ef9/64dfe9ece576b.image.jpg?crop=1763%2C926%2C0%2C124&resize=1200%2C630&order=crop%2Cresize)
Louisiana is poised to receive $70 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve reading instruction at high-need schools.
It’s the largest amount any state got in a recently announced round of grants, officials said. A portion of the money will pay for mentor teachers to help their colleagues learn the latest research-based methods to teach reading to children of all ages.
“These funds will help teachers and leaders improve in their profession so they can have the greatest impact on students,” Louisiana’s Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a statement.
According to the state Department of Education, schools will have to complete a competitive application process detailing how they plan to use the funding. To be approved, they must also show the state that they struggle with high teacher turnover, low graduation rates, a growing population of English learners, have a high number of third graders at risk of being held back, or are otherwise “chronically failing.”
The money will be distributed over a five-year span.
LDOE executive director of literacy Shanna Beber said the funds will primarily provide additional support for teachers, who, under a 2021 state law, must undergo a one to two-year-long training program to learn the latest methods to teach students how to read.
“Literacy is an ongoing developmental skill,” Beber said.
She added that having mentors work with teachers on current best practices will ensure “that every child becomes a literate citizen.”
This is the third such round of grants to be handed out by the federal government under its Comprehensive Literacy State Development, or CLSD, Program. Louisiana was previously awarded $100 million in 2019 and $42 million in 2020.
Jenna Chiasson, LDOE’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said the state has been pinpointed each time for the strides it’s made in improving student literacy outcomes.
“We really have evidence that what we’re already doing is working for students,” she said. “We want to keep that momentum going.”
Louisiana has received praise in recent years for its students’ reading gains. In a national report released earlier this year, it was one of just three states where reading test scores were found to have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Researchers lauded the comeback as “remarkable.”
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley has also touted improvements in the number of kindergarteners and first graders reading at or above level, with state data showing that test scores for students in those grades improved by an average of about 20% over the course of last school year.
But while the state has made strides in some areas, officials largely acknowledge there’s still a long way to go.
The national report found that, while Louisiana students’ reading scores had improved on average since 2020, stark racial and economic divides remained, with Black, Hispanic and low income students making less progress than their White and affluent peers.
And according to a July report from the state Department of Education, nearly half of Louisiana’s second and third graders ended last school year reading below or significantly below grade level.
The numbers could be cause for concern for the state where, starting this school year, third grade students who score below a certain threshold on their spring exam risk being held back.
DeJunne’ Jackson, president of the Center for Literacy & Learning, a national nonprofit early-learning organization that provided schools with literacy specialists after Louisiana received CLSD money in 2020, said the grant will be lifesaving for some of the state’s reading efforts, many of which have been kept afloat using COVID-era relief funds that are set to expire this year.
When dollars from temporary programs dry up, “so do the supports. It’s like getting the rug pulled out from under you,” Jackson said. “It frustrates our educators.”
She added that tackling literacy gaps early on is crucial for keeping students on the right track.
“Literacy is the foundation for all learning,” Jackson said. “We’ve put forth so much effort to move the needle for our students. This funding means that we can continue that work.”
Louisiana
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday
![A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/07/05/Building_Implosion_Louisiana_91973.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
An abandoned, 22-story building in Lake Charles, Louisiana — once an icon in the city that became a symbol of destruction from hurricanes Laura and Delta — is scheduled to be demolished Saturday after sitting vacant for nearly four years.
Weather permitting, the implosion of The Hertz Tower will take place around 8 a.m. (CT). The tower is expected to collapse down to four or six stories, according to the city’s website.
The building, formerly known as the Capital One Tower, has been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades. However, after a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.
For years the owners of the building, the Los Angeles-based real estate firm Hertz Investment Group, promised to repair the structure once they settled with their insurance provider Zurich in court, The Advocate reported. The estimated cost of bringing the building back up to code was $167 million. Eventually, the two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.
The demolition is being funded by $7 million in private money secured by the city. Hertz still owns the property and the future of the site is undetermined, according to the city.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the planned implosion of the building as “bittersweet.”
“I know how hard the city tried to work with several development groups to see it saved, but ultimately … it proved to be too tall a task,” said Hunter, who was in office during the hurricanes. “At this juncture, I am ready for a resolution. It’s been four years. It’s been long enough.”
Lake Charles, which sits on the banks of the Calcasieu River and is a two hours’ drive from Houston, is home to around 80,000 residents. While the city is known for its copious amounts of festivals, bayous, casinos and its Cajun flair, it also has been labeled by the Weather Channel as America’s “most-weather battered city.”
Hurricane Delta crashed ashore in southern Louisiana in October 2020 just six weeks after Laura took a similar, destructive path onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. At the time, Lake Charles was already reeling from damage caused by Laura, which battered roofs, claimed more than 25 lives in the region and left mud and debris filling streets.
The Hertz tower offers an example of the city’s long road to recovery following back-to-back hurricanes that inflicted an estimated $22 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While there are signs of rebuilding and growth in much of Lake Charles, there are still buildings that remain in disarray and residents living in the same conditions as four years ago — waiting for financial relief to rebuild their homes, looking for affordable housing after the hurricanes’ destruction exacerbated the housing crisis or stuck in court with their insurance provider to get a fair payout.
Louisiana
More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis
![More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis](https://gray-wvue-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/YYBHZBLGSJAMDEKBJEZRX6PX7Y.jpg?auth=60519cbc97bbb78f9766e7f2f9d793fb51e9faf825001ef6203cc36837a4c204&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – With property insurance costs in Louisiana spiraling out of control, seniors are increasingly turning to reverse mortgages for financial relief.
Alison Calamaia at America’s Mortgage Resource says she’s been getting more calls from homeowners asking about reverse mortgages.
“A lot of my calls start with clients asking about whether or not they should get a reverse mortgage,” said Calamia. “My next question is why are you calling? What has occurred that made you make this phone call? Currently, they say my insurance just went through the roof.”
A majority of Calamia’s clients are in their golden years and on fixed incomes. She says the soaring cost of homeowners insurance creates a financial burden many of them can’t afford because they never anticipated the price of insurance premiums to climb so high.
“I currently have a woman right now, her insurance went from $3,000 to $14,000. She can’t afford to pay that any longer,” she said. “She does have a mortgage on her property, and she might lose her house if she can’t make that mortgage payment.”
Even those without mortgages, like Cheron Brylski of Uptown New Orleans, are feeling the pressure. Brylski put her home up for sale earlier this summer, citing property insurance and taxes as key reasons for her decision.
“It’s basically making living in a house that I own, and I own outright, impossible for me to stay here,” Brylski told us in June.
Calamia said the fear of losing one’s “forever” home is becoming more common among her clients.
“Most of the time it’s the house where they raised their children. And we live in the South. We don’t want to leave that house. We want to stay put,” she explained.
INSURANCE CRISIS
To stay put, Calamia says a growing number of people are considering reverse mortgages to create another line of money. Details of mortgages and reverse mortgages can be confusing and often filled with financial language unfamiliar to many people. That can often lead to several myths about reverse mortgages said Calamia, who tried to boil down the information for this reporter to understand.
“In a nutshell, it is a mortgage against the home that allows for a percentage of the property value to be used as a stream of monthly income, a line of credit, or a lump sum to pay existing mortgages, but it does not come with a monthly payback as long as the borrower lives in the home. They do have to pay taxes and insurance, but there’s not that principal and interest part of it. In essence, the house is going to pay for the principal that they would receive and the interest on it over time instead of physically making a traditional mortgage payment, the house is paying for it,” said Calamia.
The borrower can use the line of cash or credit generated through a reverse mortgage to pay for things like property insurance. Calamia says reverse mortgages often get a bad reputation. Much of her work involves walking clients through a process to determine if a reverse mortgage would be appropriate for their financial situation.
“One of the biggest reasons myths about reverse mortgages is I can’t get a reverse mortgage if I still owe money on my home. That’s not true. However, in a reverse mortgage the available funds, which is a percentage of the property value, there needs to be enough in the reverse mortgage to pay off that mortgage plus cover the closing costs. We don’t have any out-of-pocket cost so the cost of getting the loan is worked into the loan. People also think they won’t keep the title to their home. They do keep that title as long as they just live in it. And one day, when the mortgage is due and payable, which is usually after the borrower has sold the property or has permanently moved out of the home. When the loan becomes due and payable, any amount that was given to the borrower is paid back along with interest on it over time. There’s no end date. The date is when they no longer live there usually after death,” Calamia said.
Reverse mortgages may not be suitable for everyone. But during a time when many people are trying to find ways to cover the cost of sky-high property insurance, Calamia believes it can help seniors stay in their forever homes.
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