Hurricane Laura devastation surfaces as dust settles

Joe Medulla said he hopes that Sabine River Ford in Orange, Texas, can reopen in some capacity within 24 to 48 hours.

Nearly a week after Hurricane Laura made landfall Aug. 27 as a powerful Category 4 storm, Sabine River Ford has power, albeit from a generator, but no Internet service, said Medulla, general sales manager.

Customers have begun to call about nails in vehicle tires and needing an oil change so they can leave town, he said, and the dealership wants to help.

Across the state line in Louisiana, the road to reopening is longer for Volkswagen of Lake Charles, where Medulla also is general sales manager. The city was hit by strong winds during the hurricane. Nearly every vehicle on the dealership's lot was damaged, he said, from blown-out windows to scratched hoods where debris looks to have hit. Medulla said he has heard electricity could be out for at least a month, if not longer, and he hasn't heard when water service will be restored.

"I would love to say that we could be open within 30 days, but it's really going to be dependent on what the recovery effort citywide looks like," he said.

Dealers in Laura's path across southwestern Louisiana and parts of eastern Texas have started to assess the damage from the hurricane. Laura left more than 300,000 homes and businesses without power and water, including Louisiana dealerships. Electricity restoration could take several weeks, according to Entergy Louisiana.

Phillip Tarver, a Toyota dealer in Lake Charles, told Automotive News on Sunday that his dealership is being powered by generators and water is being supplied from an outside company.

Toyota also provided a generator for the dealership, and Tarver said he expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency will help with the cleanup.

Fifty miles east of Lake Charles, Don Shetler Buick-Chevrolet in Crowley, La., is experiencing a partial power outage. A spokeswoman said that the dealership reopened with only minor building damage and one damaged truck that was struck by fallen shingles.

Will Green, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, said he continues to collect information from his members.

Lake Charles Toyota opened up to employees, family members and friends as a safe place to stay while the state works to repair the power grid.

Tarver said that supporting his employees is at the top of his list.

"Our goal is to take care of our sphere of influence," Tarver said.

He is not only cleaning up and restoring the building from hurricane damage but also working to make the people staying at his store as comfortable as possible.

"Taking care of 150 people is a full-time job," he said.

He said he doesn't know when he will be able to reopen, but the dealership will be in good shape within a week.

Tarver said that waking up to the damage that Laura left behind Thursday morning was like bringing a warship back into port.

"I don't know how we made it through mentally," he said of himself and his sons.

Tarver is commuting from Houston to Lake Charles daily to work on storm cleanup and restoration.

At Sabine River Ford, Medulla said employees are trying to find a workaround for the Internet outage since so much of the dealership business is electronic, from shopping to contracting.

He said he is working with his insurance company to file claims and document damage before his team can begin cleanup in Lake Charles.

"The sheer amount of wind damage is what's really hampering recovery, I think, because there's just so much destruction," Medulla said. "We have to completely rebuild."

Lindsay VanHulle contributed to this report.