St. Charles Parish, winds of about 100 mph downed trees, ripped houses, and left power lines in the street, making roads impassable. The lights were expected to be out for a month, and drinking water was compromised. 

Yet despite a mandatory evacuation order for parish residents, Sheriff Greg Champagne did not evacuate people in the jail ahead of the storm. The next day the 911 system in the parish wasn’t working, according to Nola.com; on 4 days later, repeated calls to the sheriff’s office and jail still failed to connect.