Nearly a month ago a high-end Category 4 storm, Hurricane Laura, swept through the Louisiana-Texas border. The storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding left the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana upside down. Governor John Bel Edwards told NBC news that, “this is the most powerful storm the state has ever seen, worse than 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.”
Going beyond our walls is a core value we take to heart at NCW. When we saw the aftermath of the tropical storm, we knew our team could help to make a difference in the disaster relief.
An Indianapolis-based electrical contractor, and longstanding client company of NCW, had been working tirelessly in the Southwest Louisiana region. The circumstances required an all-hands-on-deck approach for disaster recovery. In response, NCW’s recruiting team sent a team of fourteen electricians to Lake Charles. From frantically sourcing for available lodging options, to picking up rental cars in Tennessee to drive down to the disaster sites, our recruiters experienced a whole different task at hand in order to keep our electricians safe.
These fourteen electricians assisted in successfully restoring power to the Lake Charles Regional Memorial Hospital – a very serious need. After a few days they had the hospital up and running by connecting generators and transformers.
One electrician from team NCW, Luis De Bourg, describes what it was like from the “inside” assisting with disaster relief. Luis has been with our NCW team for over four years and explained, “I have never seen anything like this. This is my first time in such a natural disaster.” Luis and his team are now awaiting new purchase orders that will determine their next placement. In the meantime, they are assisting with clean-up around strip malls and industrial parks in the Lake Charles area.
A business missing its entire storefront torn off during Hurricane Laura.
Luis says he can speak for most of the team when he references the degree of loyalty they have to NCW and its values. “Although we are waiting for orders, the guys and I stick around because we have something to give back.” This team of fourteen was the first round of responders to trudge through the rubble and our recruiters will be busy sending additional help for months to come.
We are proud of our team for their hard work in helping Lake Charles with their road to recovery. Being in a pandemic makes the crisis all the bit trickier, but by bringing a community of laborers together we can overcome this disaster.
