On Labor Day many business owners look forward to tourists and the chance to make a little extra money while people spend their time out and about. In Lake Charles, this weekend was a different story.
Erica Precht visits Lake Charles on a pretty regular basis, and any other year she might have headed west for the holiday.
"My husband's family is all from there and typically during labor day weekend we would be barbequing, visiting shops, exploring the cute downtown in Lake Charles. But this weekend we are in Lafayette with all his family because there's damage to all of their homes and waiting for Lake Charles to get up and running again," says Precht.
It's a song sung by many after Hurricane Laura, and though paying the town a visit seems like it could be helpful, even the Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau says it's better not to head out that way.
"Unless you have a specific need in lake charles or you're going specifically to help someone we need to let the people who are trying to get our power and water restored, and people who are trying to get to their homes asses the damage and secure their property. There will be plenty of time for boots on the ground hands and feet help and we do appreciate that," says Kyle Edmiston, CEO of the CVB.
Contact the United Way, the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana or the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation to give a boost to the tourism industry in Lake Charles, and while they take the time to rebuild, don't forget about all the fun to be had in the future.
"We have a very vibrant tourism economy but it's all dependent on the people and we've got to get them situated in their homes, we've got to get businesses rebuilt so if in 6 to 9 months from now we look up and we were able to host leisure visitors as well as events then I think we will have made tremendous progress in this," says Edmiston.
