LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Five members of a Louisiana family died after a generator leaked carbon monoxide into their home, hours after they survived Hurricane Laura’s deadly winds and storm surge.
Rosalie Lewis, 81, decided to shelter with her husband and three other relatives in her Lake Charles home as the Category 4 storm battered the coast last week, bringing 150 mph winds and a storm surge as high as 15 feet.
The family was unable to evacuate because of health conditions that made travel difficult, family members told The Advocate.
The home, which had withstood Hurricane Rita in 2005, suffered little damage and Rosalie Lewis and her family survived Laura. But emergency crews arrived after the storm passed to find her; her daughter, Kim Evans, 56; her son-in-law, Chris Evans, 61; and her brother, Clyde Handy, 72, dead. A generator placed in the garage filled the home with carbon monoxide during the night, according to authorities and relatives.
They had left the garage door open for ventilation, but winds likely blew it closed, allowing the poisonous gas to seep into the home, Rosalie’s son, Lyle Lewis, 55, told The Daily Advertiser.
