BATON ROUGE - Before Hurricane Laura swept through southwest Louisiana, many families flocked to the capital area seeking shelter.

Skip Simon and his family left everything behind in Lake Charles.

"We just hope and pray that everybody will be able to get back and get their houses straight. We've got a lot of annihilation over there, so it's just going to take a while to do that," Simon said.

Simon said he relied on his faith to pull through but is unsure when he'll be able to go back home.

"As of now we just have to find a place for the next couple of weeks, until we're able to get back to Lake Charles and have power. We give glory to Jesus because he's the one who took care of us that's for sure," he said.

Less than two miles down from Simon's hotel, a local restaurant is doing its part to spread some local kindness. After a generous donation, the owner at La Divina Italian Cafe is handing out free meals to evacuees and first responders.

"So far so good. We've had a few guests take us up on the opportunity and hopefully we'll continue this throughout the day," Lance LeBlanc said.

Steve Morris and his wife Terrie are among those who took advantage of the offer. The devastation the storm left behind in his hometown of Sulphur brought him to tears.

"It's not about us. I know what the people there are going through. They worked all their life, to just lose it," Steve said.

Hotels are still hard to come by, as many have yet to go back home. The state has reserved at least 2,000 hotel rooms for those in need of shelter.