Hurricane Laura causes billions in damage on Gulf Coast
Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferre has the latest on the damage caused by Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas.
Video Transcript
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right. Cleanup begins today after the utter destruction caused by Hurricane Laura. It is one of the most powerful storms to hit Louisiana in more than 150 years, killing at least six people and leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark and without water.
Ines Ferre is joining us now for more. So, Ines, I know that Laura was downgraded to a tropical depression. What is the latest on this storm?
INES FERRE: That's right. It's a tropical depression that is in Arkansas right now with the possibility of tornadoes, heavy winds. But certainly, Hurricane Laura came into Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane with gusts of winds more than 135 miles an hour.
So a lot of the damage that we're seeing right now from the aerial shots are wind damage to structures or roofs that have been torn off. As you said, hundreds of thousands are without power right now. Six deaths have been reported.
Right now it's a search and rescue effort. The personnel for search and rescue is in the area right now. And of course, we're seeing these aerial shots, but we-- you won't really see the extent, the full extent of the damage until 24 to 48 hours later.
I've worked in a lot of these hurricane coverages down in the Gulf of Mexico, including Katrina. And the problem is is that there's no power. There's no cell connections. And a lot of the roads are blocked because of the damage.
BRIAN SOZZI: And, Ines, how about the oil refineries?
INES FERRE: The oil refineries were on watch. About nine refineries had been shut down, and five of them in Texas are OK. They have passed safety inspection so they have reopened. They're reopening.
And the other ones seem to be OK. And just taking a look at oil right now, we're looking at oil that's about $42.96 a share. Over the last five days, it's been in a range between $42 and change to $43 and change. And those are actually prices from the highs back in early March. Brian?
