August 31, 2020 Louisiana Department of Health verifies one additional hurricane-related death

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Aug 31, 2020 - The Louisiana Department of Health on Monday verifies one additional death tied to Hurricane Laura, bringing the state’s current death toll to 15.

A 49-year-old man in Rapides Parish died from blunt force trauma while cutting down a tree. 

Below are details on the 15 deaths LDH has verified to date:

• 14-year-old female, Vernon Parish, fallen tree
• 51-year-old male, Jackson Parish, fallen tree
• 68-year-old male, Acadia Parish, fallen tree
• 64-year-old female, Allen Parish, fallen tree
• Male, Calcasieu Parish, drowning
• 24-year-old male, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 56-year-old female, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 61-year-old male, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 81-year-old female, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 72-year-old male, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 84-year-old male, Allen Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 80-year-old female, Allen Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning from generator
• 57-year-old male, Calcasieu Parish, head injury after falling from roof
• One resident, Calcasieu Parish, carbon monoxide poisoning
• 49-year-old male, Rapides Parish, storm cleanup

Cleaning up your home after a storm can be a big job, and can put you at greater risk of injury. 

Wear the right safety gear, including hard hats, goggles, respirator masks with higher protection levels, heavy work gloves, waterproof boots with steel toe and insole (not just steel shank), earplugs or protective headphones if working with noisy equipment, and at least two fire extinguishers each with a UL rating of at least 10A. If sewage cleanup is involved, wear rubber boots and gloves and safety goggles.

Be sure to take care of yourself: 

• Rest when you need to.
• Decide which cleanup tasks are most important and focus on those first. That way, you’re less likely to be overwhelmed.
• Get help lifting heavy or bulky objects. If you lift too much on your own, you could hurt yourself.
• Try to work with other people, so you aren’t alone.

Anyone involved in storm cleanup should have had a booster dose of tetanus-diphtheria vaccine within the past 10 years.