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.
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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.”
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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.
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LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – AUGUST 27: Capital One Tower is seen with its windows blown out in the downtown area after Hurricane Laura passed through on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The hurricane hit with powerful winds causing extensive damage to the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – AUGUST 27: An escalator is seen in Capital One Tower that had its windows blown out in the downtown area after Hurricane Laura passed through on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana . The hurricane hit with powerful winds causing extensive damage to the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Capital One Tower office building previously boarded up from Hurricane Laura, stands after Hurricane Delta made landfall in Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S., on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. Delta weakened to a tropical depression as it moved inland over northeastern Louisiana, knocking out power lines and drenching an area still recovering from the onslaught of Hurricane Laura. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – AUGUST 27: A person is seen walking through Capital One Tower with its windows blown out in the downtown area after Hurricane Laura passed through on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana . The hurricane hit with powerful winds causing extensive damage to the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
An eyesore that stood over southwest Louisiana for four years finally came down Saturday with the help of controlled explosives after being damaged during Hurricane Laura. (KPLC)
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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.
Oil and natural gas companies are lining up behind Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy as he fights an uphill primary battle.
Cassidy, a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and outspoken ally of oil, has gotten about $120,000 in campaign contributions from donors and political action committees in oil and adjacent industries since the beginning of last year, a review of his campaign disclosures by POLITICO’s E&E News shows.
Rep. Julia Letlow got about $43,500 from industry sources since entering the race in January, disclosures show. Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming got $12,750 from oil and gas.
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Cassidy took in $14,500 from oil and gas in the same period, though many of his donors had already given the maximum allowable amount by then. Fleming got $3,500 of his total in that time period.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana will receive $18.9 million in federal grants for hurricane recovery, Sen. John Kennedy announced Thursday (May 14).
Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support disaster recovery efforts and repairs in communities impacted by Hurricanes Ida and Francine.
Kennedy said the funding will support Lafourche, Jefferson and Terrebonne parishes, as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
The grants include $8.8 million to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission for permanent repairs from Hurricane Ida.
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Jefferson Parish will receive $5.3 million for management costs from Hurricane Ida.
Terrebonne Parish will receive $2.6 million for debris removal operations from Hurricane Francine.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will receive $2.2 million for debris removal operations from Hurricane Francine.
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GOP-led states sending hundreds of additional National Guard troops to DC
Three GOP governors have pledged to send hundreds more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to aid Trump’s federalization of the city.
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Louisiana National Guard soldiers have been deployed to Washington, D.C., for a second time.
The deployment is part of a crime emergency declared by President Trump nine months ago.
About 125 soldiers will assist local police and the D.C. National Guard in a support role.
The soldiers will patrol high-traffic areas but will not have the authority to make arrests.
Louisiana National Guard soldiers have returned to Washington, D.C., on a second deployment as part of President Trump’s continued crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington nine months ago to trigger deployments of states’ National Guard troops to the capital.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry first sent a contingent of Louisiana soldiers to Washington in August 2025. Lt. Col. Noel Collins told USA Today Network on May 13 that all of those soldiers returned to Louisiana by the end of December.
Landry’s latest deployment of Louisiana soldiers includes about 125 who began assisting other soldiers and local police May 12.
Louisiana’s soldiers won’t make arrests, but they will patrol high-traffic areas while playing a supporting role for the D.C. National Guard and local police.
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The White House has said its capital crime task force has made more than 12,000 arrests since August and seized thousands of illegal guns.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
National Guard in New Orleans: President Trump extends National Guard deployment in New Orleans
