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Disaster Date:08/26/2020

Jennings, LA

Hurricanes

What Happened

Hurricane Laura struck Louisiana on August 26, 2020 as a Category 4 hurricane. This hurricane was the tenth-strongest U.S. hurricane landfall by wind speed on record, with peak winds of 150 mph. On October 9, 2020 Hurricane Delta struck Louisiana in the same areas that were significantly affected by Hurricane Laura. Many homeowners had not returned home yet from evacuating from Hurricane Laura, and many homes still had tarps on their roofs from Laura. This area was also impacted by the Freeze of 2021 where many exposed pipes were frozen and then in May of 2021 received over 15 inches of rain.

Volunteer in Jennings, LA

What MDS Is Doing

MDS has been invited by local partners including Southwest Louisiana Responds, the Fuller Center for Disaster Rebuilders, and the Bayou Community Foundation to provide volunteer labor in building 4 new homes, plus some additional repair jobs.

Location

Jennings is located in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. It is about halfway between Lafayette and Lake Charles. The town has a population of approximately 10,000 people. Louisiana’s first oil well was brought into the Jennings Field in 1901. Jefferson Davis Parish has over 350,000 acres of farmland, with the most significant crops being soybeans and rice.

Weekly Reports

Jennings, LA – Feb. 18-24, 2024

This week we had 15 youth from the Denver, PA area, as well as two young ladies from New York. All together they were a power house of carpentry finishers, roofers, and painters. The roofers steamed through two of the extra jobs that would otherwise...

Jennings, LA – Feb. 11-17, 2024

This week we had 13 youth from East Earl, PA, whose fearless leader Wesley Nolt got sick and couldn’t come. The highlight this week was a true Louisiana Mardi Gras, which in our area began with the Jennings parade on Saturday before the boys...

Jennings, LA – Jan. 21-27, 2024

Another big week. Monday started out with the powerful experience of a meeting between Mennonite church leaders, MDS leaders, and FEMA leaders, as well as some MDS funding groups. The topic of discussion? Working together to build resilience in the...

See More Weekly Reports