
Hurricane Laura knocked out most of the water service in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Thursday.
“We’ve got some plants that are open, but it’s not enough to serve the entire city. The pressure is in the single digits,” City Administrator John Cardone told CNN.
Cardone said engineering consultants are coming to the city to help fix the system, which they hope to have to at least 45% capacity on Friday. The problem, according to the city administrator, is not just a loss of power, but also the potential for broken pipes all over the city.
“There were a lot of uprooted trees on private property,” said Cardone. “If they got the water lines on the private property, we’d need to go there and locate it. If people are evacuated, we don’t know where the leaks are.”