Hurricane Laura: Louisiana family killed by carbon monoxide poisoning hours after surviving storm

Nearly half the deaths in Texas and Louisiana were due to generator leaks, authorities say

Lake Charles was ravaged by the Category 4 storm, which saw winds reach speeds of 150 mph (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Four members of a Louisiana family were killed and a fifth was critically injured, and later died, when a generator leaked carbon monoxide into their home, hours after they survived Hurricane Laura's deadly winds and storm surge.

Rosalie Lewis, 81, decided to shelter with her husband and three other relatives in her Lake Charles home as the Category 4 storm battered the coast early Sunday, bringing 150 mph (240 km/h) winds and a storm surge as high as 15 feet (4.5 metres).

The family was unable to evacuate because of health conditions that made travel difficult, The Advocate quoted family members as saying this week.

The home, which had also withstood Hurricane Rita in 2005, suffered little damage and Ms Lewis and her family survived Laura.

But emergency crews arrived after the storm passed to find her; her daughter, Kim Evans, 56; her son-in-law, Chris Evans, 61; and her brother, Clyde Handy, 72, dead. A generator placed in the garage filled the home with carbon monoxide during the night, according to authorities and relatives.

They had left the garage door open for ventilation, but winds from the storm likely blew it closed, allowing the poisonous gas to seep into the home, Ms Lewis's son, Lyle Lewis, 55, told The Daily Advertiser.

“They made it through the storm and there was a freak accident,” relative Patrick Perry told The Advocate this week.

Ms Lewis' husband, John Charles Lewis Sr., 84, survived and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, relatives said. He was on life support on Wednesday, but died on Thursday, his son, Lyle Lewis, confirmed to The Associated Press.

Of the 25 deaths in Texas and Louisiana that have been attributed to the storm, nearly half were due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators, according to authorities.

Ms Lewis was a well-known member of her Lake Charles neighbourhood and had served as the first black female postal service supervisor in southwest Louisiana, family members told news outlets. Mr Lewis Sr. drove trucks for 40 years and Ms Lewis Evans and her husband Mr Evans had been married for 30 years and often cared for her parents. Mr Handy was remembered by relatives as a loving uncle and father figure, The Daily Advertiser said.

A joint funeral service for the family members was set for 12 September.

AP