A family in Louisiana made it through the worst of Hurricane Laura’s winds and storm surge last week, only to perish hours after the …
A family in Louisiana made it through the worst of Hurricane Laura’s winds and storm surge last week, only to perish hours after the storm when a generator leaked carbon monoxide into their home. The Louisiana Department of Health said Wednesday of the 17 deaths related to the hurricane in the state, seven have been due to carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. «Gas-powered generators produce carbon monoxide, which is odorless and colorless,» the agency warns. «Inhaling carbon monoxide can very quickly lead to full incapacitation or death.» Four of those deaths happened in one home in Lake Charles, after Rosalie Lewis,81, had sheltered with her husband, John, and three other relatives as the Category 4 storm bore down on Southwest Louisiana. Family members told the Daily Advertiser the family was concerned about evacuations because they didn’t want to expose Rosalie and John to coronavirus in a hotel or a shelter. The home, which had also withstood Hurricane Rita in 2005, suffered little damage from Laura but emergency crews made a grim discovery inside hours after the storm passed. The 81-year-old, her daughter, Kim Evans,56; her son-in-law, Chris Evans,61; and her brother, Clyde Handy,72, were all found dead after a generator they set up in the garage filled the house with carbon monoxide.
