Hurricane Season Beginning, As Fate Of Landmark Hurricane-Trashed Louisiana Skyscraper Is Sealed

The Capital One Tower in Lake Charles, Louisiana will
be demolished later this year after sitting abandoned
and seriously damaged for four years after Hurricane Laura.

At around 1 a.m. August 27, 2020,  Hurricane Laura smashed into the coastline of of southwestern Louisiana as a powerful Cat 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph. 

It was the strongest hurricane to strike that section of coastline since records began in 1851.

As you can imagine, coastal towns and cities like Cameron, Sulfur, and Lake Charles in Laura's eyewall, where the winds were strongest suffered catastrophic damage. 

One of the iconic images after the hurricane was the Capital One Tower, the tallest building in Lake Charles. A majority of its green reflective glass windows were blown out. Most of the offices inside were badly damaged or destroyed.

The building oddly has just sat there, wrecked and untouched ever since the hurricane blew threw nearly four years ago. Now, something that seems like a bit of a waste, the Capital One Tower is going to be torn down.

According to local news reports:

"Following a long battle between the owner, Hertz Investment Group and its insurance company, and many attempts to find a developer to restore the tower, Mayor Nic Hunter announced that the "eyesore" will likely be torn down late this summer.

'Ultimately, private industry was not able to save this building," Hunter said" 

Although floods, hurricanes and tornadoes routinely destroy buildings, it's rare, maybe unprecedented for entire skyscraper to completely fall victim to a storm.

This building was completed in 1982 and went through a bunch of name changes before becoming the Capital One Tower not long before Hurricane Laura. 

The 22-story building was completed in 1982.  After the hurricane, there was a long insurance process. A bit of repair work was started, but then it was announced the building was up for sale. Nothing came through.

Mayor Hunter said through the building was iconic, it kind of started to outlive its usefulness for downtown Lake Charles even before Hurricane Laura. He'd like to see the area redeveloped in a way that brings fresh energy to the city. 

A large parking garage on the site will remain. A boatload of communications equipment atop the skyscraper that's still servicing the Lake Charles area will need to be moved before demolition.

 The closest other example I've seen to a skyscraper being torn down from storm damage was The Tower, a 35-story building in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

Fort Worth was hit by a powerful tornado in March, 2000.  Most of the Tower's windows were blown out, and the interior suffered extensive damage. Water damage from ruptured sprinklers made it worse, and black mold developed. 

The Tower was still structurally sound, but the damage was so great that developers decided to implode it. But costs and dangers to that idea became prohibitive. 

A developer ended up buying the Fort Worth building and converted it into luxury condominiums. 

A 20-story Tulsa, Oklahoma high rise was heavily damaged in a 2017 tornado and sat vacant for several years. Like the Fort Worth building, it was sold and redeveloped into luxury apartments. Residents started moving into the building this year.   

Recently a severe storm blew out hundreds of windows in Houston skyscrapers, but those buildings are expected to be repaired and reopened if they haven't already.