‘We’re tired. But we’re strong’: the future of weather-battered Southwestern Louisiana
By Josh Archote, Domenic Purdy
LAKE CHARLES, LA -- Lifelong Lake Charles, Louisiana, resident Madeline Reeves has lived through multiple hurricanes and floods. But the last year of natural disasters in Southwestern Louisiana has been unprecedented.
Madeline Reeves, pictured right, a 24-year old nurse, and her mother, Lisa Thompson, have lived in Lake Charles their entire lives.
Reeves, a 24-year-old nurse at Lake Charles’ largest hospital, said she’s observed increased sickness in her patients after hurricanes Laura and Delta displaced thousands in 2020.
“I see a lot of the effects of people being displaced, not having access to their medication or ignoring problems they may have been experienci...