Laura leads to poisoning deaths
Alarmed officials warn against improper use of portable generators
Carbon monoxide poisoning from generators appears to have killed more people in Louisiana and Texas than Hurricane Laura itself, claiming at least eight lives along the Gulf Coast, where the storm destroyed buildings and left roughly 500,000 without power.
The threat associated from generators looms as more than 230,000 customers in Louisiana remain without power, including more than 80,000 in Lake Charles and nearby towns and parishes. In East Texas, nearly 90,000 people lost power, according to Entergy.
While the exact death toll from the destruction left by Laura remains unclear — 12 fatalities in Texas and Louisiana combined are reported so far — the number of carbon monoxide deaths alarmed local officials who warn that while generators can be lifesaving appliances during natural disasters, they can also be harmful when not used safely.
The first reported carbon monoxide deaths happened in Lake Charles, where the storm did much of its damage. A family of five had a generator running in the garage after losing power but left a door to the home partially open, allowing gas to get inside.
Sheletta Brundidge, a relative who lives in Minnesota, identified the four dead as Kim and Chris Evans, Rosa Lewis, who suf
fered from Alzheimer’s disease, and Clyde Handy. A fifth person, Charles Lewis Sr., is in critical condition at a Lake Charles hospital.
Rosa and Charles Lewis were Kim Evans’s parents and all lived in the home, Brundidge said. Handy is Rosa Lewis’ brother and stayed with them on Thursday night because he lost power from the storm and the Evans had a generator. Brundidge’s father had spoken with the family as recently as Thursday.
“Everything was fine, they had a blown out window or something but no injuries or anything like that,” Brundidge said. “Then I got the call today that they had died.”
At a Friday morning news conference in Lake Charles, Fire Chief Shawn Caldwell called the deaths “troubling” and “scary,” and pleaded with the public to use generators safely. Homeowners sometimes run them inside houses to keep them from potentially being stolen.
“Guys, keep it away from your home,” Caldwell said “Don’t let a generator cost your life.”
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso confirmed another death due to carbon monoxide poisoning. His agency said four people died from the same cause in aftermath of Hurricane Rita, including one of his deputies.
The region has been ransacked by the Category 4 storm, and authorities implemented a 7 p.m. curfew.
“It’s very dangerous out there,” Mancuso said. “We have some serious serious, catastrophic damage that took place.”
In Port Arthur, another two died from possible carbon monoxide poisoning, after six people thought to be homeless sought shelter in a pool hall. The pool hall initially had a generator outside for power, according to Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett. They later moved the generator inside, causing the death of two Vietnamese men — 53- and 60years old — and one unidentified person.
Three others were found alive inside the pool hall and were taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, Burnett said.
Burnett ordered an autopsy on the three dead Port Arthur residents.
A generator was found running inside the business, and officers responding to the scene were tested for poisoning due to high levels of carbon monoxide on arrival, according to Burnett.
In a separate incident near 1 a.m. Friday, 17 Mid-County individuals living in the same residence were brought to various local hospitals after extreme carbon monoxide exposure of 400 parts per million, Port Neches Assistant Fire Chief Mike Stegall told the Beaumont Enterprise.
Sixteen of those suffering exposure were released Friday in stable condition, while one child was flown to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Their condition was unknown Friday evening.
In Beaumont, police found 61year-old Alphonso Devon Williams dead in his residence Friday. When officers arrived at 3:51 p.m., they found Williams in an upstairs garage apartment with a generator in the garage below, the department said.
An autopsy has been ordered, but his death is believed to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Consumer Reports says users should never run a generator in an enclosed space. It should be kept at least 20 feet from the home, with the exhaust directed away from the building.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas emitted by many portable generators. The National Institutes of Health say the gas can prove lethal in as little as five minutes by impeding the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.
“People are running generators indoors through very poorly ventilated areas,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday. “That is just an ultra-hazardous thing to do. So I’m encouraging everybody: Until the lights come back on, please don’t do that.”
Four people, including a 14year-old girl and 68-year-old, have been killed by fallen trees, and another man drowned in a sunken boat, the governor said.
In East Texas, a man who was killed after a pine tree fell on his mobile home. David Murrell, 54, was found Thursday morning in his home and pronounced dead hours later after removing him from the damaged home, Sabine County emergency management officials said. Prior to the storm, a 62-year-old Atascocita man was electrocuted Tuesday while on a 12-foot ladder trying to clear branches near power lines.