Hurricane Laura Hit Six Years Ago. Louisiana Is Still Taking Bids to Repair the Damage.

New state construction notices show Hurricane Laura projects at McNeese State University and Allen Correctional Center remain in the bidding process more than six years after the Category 4 storm struck Southwest Louisiana.

On August 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura tore through Southwest Louisiana with sustained winds of 150 mph.

Six years later, the storm is still appearing in Louisiana's construction bid advertisements.

Not as a historical reference. As active work awaiting contractors.

According to the Louisiana Division of Administration's public construction register, multiple Hurricane Laura repair projects at McNeese State University in Lake Charles and Allen Correctional Center in Kinder have bid deadlines scheduled for November and December 2026.

The work includes campus lighting, demolition and reconstruction of an equine facility, and additional building and site repairs at the correctional center.

The records raise an obvious question.

How does damage from a 2020 hurricane remain part of the state's active construction pipeline in late 2026?

The projects still awaiting bids

The Office of Facility Planning and Control maintains a public register of state construction advertisements, bid openings, and award results.

As of November 4, 2026, that register identifies four upcoming Hurricane Laura repair bids at the two facilities.

At McNeese State University, contractors are being solicited for demolition and reconstruction of the Equine Center, with bids due November 18.

A separate project covers main campus site lighting repairs and improvements, with bids scheduled for December 1.

At Allen Correctional Center, the state has scheduled bids for building and site repairs designated Area F and Area H on December 1 and December 2, respectively.

These are separate construction packages. The state has not presented them as a single combined contract.

The currently available notices establish that work is being solicited. They do not, by themselves, explain why each project reached the bidding stage in 2026.

McNeese suffered extensive damage

The damage at McNeese was substantial from the beginning.

In September 2020, the Louisiana Board of Regents reported that approximately 90% of the university's buildings had sustained roof damage and that all 50 campus buildings required some level of repair.

The university faced extensive tree damage, debris removal, and building remediation.

Recovery was further complicated by the arrival of Hurricane Delta in October 2020, just weeks after Laura.

Years of reconstruction followed.

In August 2025, KPLC reported that McNeese was still recovering from the storm and that 97% of its facilities had suffered damage.

The new 2026 bid notices show additional construction activity remains ahead.

But there is an important qualification: the existence of current repair projects does not establish that the university's broader recovery has been stalled for six years.

Other repairs have been completed or advanced during that period. The question is why these particular projects are only now entering, or reentering, the bidding process.

The work extends beyond ordinary building repairs

The state's November 18 advertisement concerns demolition and reconstruction of McNeese's Equine Center.

The project is identified under state numbers 19-627-21-01, F.19002703, with a supplemental project number.

The December 1 project concerns main campus site lighting. A public construction listing describes the work as upgrading existing non-LED lighting to LED fixtures where applicable.

That detail is worth examining.

When a disaster-damaged facility is repaired years after the original event, the final project may include improvements or changes beyond replacing damaged components exactly as they existed.

Those changes can affect project costs, funding eligibility, engineering requirements, and procurement.

Whether that occurred in these particular projects, and to what extent, remains to be established from the construction specifications and funding records.

Allen Correctional Center has multiple repair contracts

The state construction register shows that Allen Correctional Center's Hurricane Laura work has been divided into multiple areas.

Some projects have already passed through bidding and award.

Others remain scheduled for future bids.

One example provides a look at the money involved.

On October 7, 2026, the state received bids for Hurricane Laura Building and Site Repairs, Area A.

Coleman Roofing & Construction Gonzales LLC submitted a base bid of $1,998,000.

The state bid tabulation marks the company as awarded the base bid plus two alternates, priced at $289,000 and $29,000.

Together, those amounts total $2,316,000.

The same tabulation identifies a 365-day construction period.

That means an Area A construction package was awarded in October 2026 with a contemplated performance period extending well beyond the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Laura.

The bid record does not establish the contractor's actual start date or eventual completion date.

It does, however, establish that substantial hurricane-related construction obligations were still being awarded in 2026.

Recovery funding continued years after the storm

The financial history provides additional context.

In March 2026, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy announced more than $70.5 million in federal disaster recovery and preparedness funding for Louisiana projects.

Among the listed awards was approximately $8.97 million for a consolidated alternate project to repair and upgrade facilities at McNeese following Hurricane Laura.

The award illustrates that federal disaster recovery funding continued to be allocated years after the storm.

However, the announcement alone does not establish that the $8.97 million was assigned to the Equine Center, campus lighting, or any specific project in the current bid register.

That connection would require project-level grant and expenditure records.

The same distinction applies to state appropriations, insurance settlements, and construction contracts.

Funding announcements are not the same as completed construction, and a project appearing in a public bid register does not explain its entire financial history.

Why does disaster recovery take so long?

Major public-facility reconstruction can involve several different processes.

Damage must be assessed. Insurance coverage may need to be resolved. Federal reimbursement eligibility may require documentation. Engineering and architectural plans must be developed. Funding must be made available, and construction work must be advertised and awarded.

Some projects are completed in phases, while others require redesign or substantial replacement rather than straightforward repairs.

These processes can extend the timeline significantly.

But identifying possible causes is not the same as establishing what actually happened at McNeese or Allen Correctional Center.

The records reviewed do not identify whether the outstanding projects were delayed by funding disputes, insurance, design changes, contractor availability, administrative processing, or another cause.

That is the next reporting question.

A separate McNeese project carries a $5.57 million construction estimate

The scope of continuing reconstruction becomes clearer in another state record.

On September 16, 2026, the Louisiana Architects Selection Board selected Porche|May Architects LLC for a McNeese project titled:

Hurricane Laura Repairs, New Center for Advancement of Meat Production and Processing (CAMPP) and Site Development.

The selection record identifies an anticipated construction cost of $5,572,500 and an architectural fee of $138,288.

Those figures are planning and professional-service figures, not evidence of a completed construction contract or final expenditure.

The project title also combines hurricane repairs with development of a new facility, making it particularly important to determine which portions represent disaster recovery and which represent additional improvements.

That is a question the state's underlying project documents should answer.

Six years later, what remains unfinished?

The public construction record confirms that Louisiana continues to procure Hurricane Laura-related work.

What it does not provide is a comprehensive accounting of the original damage, completed repairs, outstanding work, and total expenditures at each facility.

For the public to evaluate the recovery, those figures matter.

At McNeese, the relevant questions include how many buildings and facilities remain unrepaired, which projects are still in design or procurement, and how much disaster recovery funding has been received and spent.

At Allen Correctional Center, the multiple repair areas warrant a similar accounting.

How many construction packages were originally planned? How many are complete? What is the combined contract value? Why are additional repair packages still being advertised?

And across both facilities, which decisions or circumstances account for the time between the 2020 storm and the 2026 construction activity?

The anniversary passed. The work didn't.

For Southwest Louisiana residents, Hurricane Laura is not an abstract historical event.

The storm damaged homes, businesses, schools, public facilities, and infrastructure across the region.

Families and businesses faced their own recovery deadlines, insurance disputes, rebuilding decisions, and financial pressures.

Public institutions faced different administrative and funding requirements, but the passage of time raises legitimate questions about the results.

The state records establish that multiple Hurricane Laura repair contracts remain active in the procurement process more than six years after landfall.

They do not establish that officials neglected the work, misused recovery funding, or unnecessarily delayed construction.

Those conclusions would require more evidence.

What the records do establish is that Louisiana's public-facility recovery from Hurricane Laura is not yet finished.

And six years after the storm, residents deserve a clear accounting of what has been repaired, what remains, how much has been spent, and why.

Related reporting

After the Storms, Some Southwest Louisiana Properties Enter a Second Disaster: The Paperwork

Louisiana Fortify Homes Grants: How to Get Up to $10,000 for a FORTIFIED Roof

Sources and records

Louisiana Division of Administration

Construction Bid Advertisements and Results

Includes the November and December 2026 bid dates for McNeese and Allen Correctional Center, as well as previous 2026 bid activity.

Allen Correctional Center, Area A, Awarded Bid Tabulation

Documents the October 7 bids and the selected $2,316,000 combination of base bid and alternates.

Louisiana Architects Selection Board, September 16, 2026

Documents the McNeese CAMPP project selection and anticipated construction cost.

Federal and historical records

National Weather Service, Hurricane Laura 2020

Senator Bill Cassidy, Federal Disaster Recovery Funding Announcement

Supporting reporting

KPLC, Five Years After Hurricane Laura, Schools Still Rebuilding

Reporting disclosure

This article is based on published state construction advertisements, bid tabulations, architectural selection records, and federal funding announcements. It does not establish the cause of any particular project's procurement timeline.

The author of 337.NEWS is also a licensed Louisiana real estate agent affiliated with NextHome Bayou Pines. Reporting is conducted independently. This article is the opinion of its author, not NextHome Bayou Pines.