In photos: Hurricane Laura leaves trail of destruction

Updated 10:26 AM ET, Sun September 6, 2020

Derailed train cars lie on their side in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on August 29.

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Hurricane Laura, with sustained winds of 150 mph, made landfall in Louisiana early on August 27. The storm rapidly weakened, but not before leaving a trail of destruction in parts of Louisiana and Texas.

"We have sustained a tremendous amount of damage," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

Laura is the strongest hurricane to strike the state of Louisiana since 1856. The storm contributed to at least 17 deaths in Louisiana and Texas.

President Donald Trump tours the damage in Lake Charles on August 29.

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A building sits partially submerged in water in Hackberry, Louisiana, on August 28.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Rachel Ellis, left, and J'Nay Fitch salvage items from the AutoZone store where they work in Lake Charles on August 28.

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A person stands in front of a damaged vehicle near Orange, Texas, on August 28.

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Pousson's Laundromat and Barbershop is left in ruins in Westlake, Louisiana.

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This aerial photo shows a devastated neighborhood outside of Lake Charles on August 27.

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Maria Ramirez and her 17-year-old son, Jose Avila, survey the damage to their home in Orange, Texas, on August 27.

Juan Lozano/AP

Mannequins are strewn on the floor at the Hair Saga store after Hurricane Laura passed through Lake Charles on August 27.

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A man walks through a debris-filled hallway on the second floor of a Lake Charles church that lost its roof on August 27.

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People survey the damage to their Lake Charles neighborhood on August 27.

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A McDonald's sign is damaged in Iowa, Louisiana, on August 27.

Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters