As of Sunday night, Hurricane Laura had been downgraded to a Tropical Depression and was moving along the coast of Nova Scotia toward Newfoundland. The storm made landfall at 1:00 AM on August 27th at Cameron, Louisiana as a strong Category 4 Hurricane with winds as high as 150 MPH and a powerful storm surge. The storm caused extensive damage and the loss of power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. However, initial reports from carbon black producers in the area indicate that flood damage was minimal as the area was better prepared and the dikes held.
Cabot Corporation put out this statement to customers on Friday, August 28th:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, we are happy to report that all our employees are safe and unharmed. Our manufacturing facilities in both Franklin, LA (Canal) and Ville Platte, LA sustained only minor wind and rain damage. Our employees will begin returning to both sites today and focus on clean up and restarting operations. We expect to return to normal operations by the weekend and shipments on Monday. Our thoughts remain with those in our communities that were greatly impacted by the storm.
Tokai Carbon CB reported that its plant in Addis, Louisiana never lost power and was able to restart on Friday, August 28th at full capacity.