flying debris happening. reporter: 1:30 in the morning, power just went out here in lake charles. the wind is buffeting our hotel. you can feel the building swaying. oh, my god! reporter: this skyscraper shredded by winds gusting above 100 miles per hour for nearly an hour straight. and outside our hotel a lot of glass, a lot of tile. right now, a lot of wind. by 4:30, the backside of laura was upon us. there s some sheet metal. obviously, we re not going to go stand out in that. but this is an amazing view of just how ferocious these winds are here on the backside of this storm. 120. reporter: kyle ricks riding it out inside a tow boat. you can hear the wind howling. those whipping winds flipping this rv. west of lake charles, rescuers cutting a hole in the side of another overturned trailer, saving a man and his dog trapped inside. daylight revealing catastrophic destruction.