42% hoping for job switch
TENS of thousands are returning to their homes not knowing if Hurricane Laura has left them standing.
As evacuees struggled back to the coast over fallen trees and power lines, many arrived to find nothing left.
The hurricane that struck Louisiana and parts of Texas on Wednesday was one of the most powerful in US history.
At least six were killed in Louisiana, including a girl of 14.
Winds of up to 150mph tore apart homes and businesses and knocked out power to nearly a million residents.
Elsewhere, Arkansas was placed in a state of emergency after it was lashed by damaging winds and flooding.
James Boudreaux, 59, was one of those who feared his home in the Louisiana seaside town of Cameron was gone.
Unable to reach his property after the area was marooned, he said he “knew his house would no longer be standing”.
He added: “Mother Nature has left me homeless three times over the last 15 years and she will have done so again.
“I know hundreds of my neighbours will be left with nothing. My home will have gone for sure.”
Officials yesterday prevented people travelling to some of the worst-hit areas like Cameron and nearby Holly Beach but others were allowed back to more mainland sites. However, with power still out in large parts of the affected district, thousands remained in shelters. The 14-year-old who died was hit by a tree which crashed down on her home in Leesville, Louisiana, about 100 miles from the coast.
Tragic Cynthia Miller and two sisters rode out the storm in their parents’ bedroom. Their town was not under evacuation and the family thought it safe. Cynthia’s sister Nellie said: “It was scary, dark. It was terrifying. We went to ride out the storm in our parents’ room. “Everyone was sitting in there and the tree... it came down. I tried to find Cindy ’cos she wasn’t talking.
“I tried to wake her up but she wouldn’t. She was really smart and wanted to go to Harvard and be a microbiologist.” Three men, aged 50 to 68, were also killed when trees fell on their homes. A man of 24 died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator inside his home. Another man drowned after his boat sank in the storm. Laura flattened buildings across Louisiana and knocked dozens of train carriages off the tracks. Just before it touched down, weather experts had called its storm surge “unsurvivable”. In Lake Charles, Barbara Thomas was cleaning up her home. She said: “You could hear the shingles coming off but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be.” Donald Trump is visiting the Gulf Coast this weekend to tour the damage.
DAMAGE Mirror’s Chris with overturned rail bogies
Houses ruined by hurricane in Lake Charles
NEARLY half of us are considering changing career – with medical jobs, gardening and teaching topping the wish list.
A survey revealed the events of this year have left 42% mulling a switch.
Three in 10 of the 2,000 polled by the National Lottery said lockdown had made them realise the importance of a good work-life balance.
However 22% of lottery millionaires have chosen to carry on working by retraining in a new role.