Hurricane Laura affects Blue Dragon

By Jolene Moore / Staff writer

On Aug. 20, disaster struck the Louisiana coastline when Hurricane Laura made landfall.

Many families are still suffering with the aftermath of  Laura, one of those being a part of Hutchinson Community College baseball team.

Hunter Gotreaux (pronounced GO-troe) is a sophomore from Moss Bluff, Louisiana, which is about a 30-minute drive away from the Gulf of Mexico shores. Gotreaux was already in Hutch when Laura struck. Gotreaux said he and his family were ill prepared when the strong winds and heavy rain started, but luckily, his mom made it safely to Houston.

Gotreaux’s dad decided to stay with his house, which suffered roof damage when a tree branch fell. Gotreaux had experienced a hurricane before, but has never seen something like this before.

“I was home for Hurricane Harvey, which was nowhere near as bad as Laura was,” he said. “I was concerned for the well-being of my family, but was relieved when everyone was safe. If we would have known about the hurricane, then I probably would have stayed down there to help.”

Hurricane Harvey hit Louisiana in 2017. But Gotreaux said that “even though the community will not be the same after Laura, they are slowly but surely rebuilding,”

Right now the community is running off a generator, but they have access to clean water and supplies that they might need. But the people of Moss Bluff are used to the unpredictable weather.

“(You) can’t predict weather down there sometimes. They say no rain, and then there are floods and sometimes it rains with no clouds,” Gotreaux said.

Gotreaux said he plans to return home during Thanksgiving break and help with whatever he can possibly get his hands on. Even with the crazy weather and unpredictable circumstances, Gotreaux still believes it is the greatest place on earth.

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