Hurricane Laura left behind major destruction this week in Louisiana, and auto dealers on Friday were still trying to assess the damage.

The Associated Press said a full assessment could take days. Laura was responsible for at least six deaths as the hurricane uprooted trees, causing them to fall on homes.

Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association President Will Green told Automotive News in an email Friday that he is continuing to check in with dealers throughout the state as they survey the damage at their stores.

“There are still many without power and water in the areas most affected,” he wrote. “I have been encouraged by the support I have seen from surrounding dealers whether that be offering of generators or volunteering help and support.”

He said it is too early to tell how long dealerships will remain closed.

Lake Charles, La., dealer Phillip Tarver said Thursday there is no electricity or water available in the area, about 50 miles north of Cameron, La., where the hurricane made landfall.

His dealership has not experienced flooding on the lot or in the dealership. He told Automotive News: “We are OK.”

East of Lake Charles, dealer Art LeBlanc told Automotive News on Friday that he hoped to reopen two stores in Jennings, La., next week.

Of the seven new-car dealerships and five standalone, preowned stores in LeBlanc’s Sterling Automotive Group, the Buick-GMC and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram stores in Jennings were damaged by water from rain blowing indoors, he said. The Chrysler store also had wind damage to siding and the roof.

The rest of his dealerships are farther east toward Lafayette and Opelousas and did not receive the heaviest rain and wind from Laura, LeBlanc said. All but the Jennings locations were open Friday, he added.

“We escaped the brunt of it,” he said.

The former Category 4 hurricane knocked out most of Lake Charles power and water service, and the damage caused a toxic chemical fire Thursday.

Laura was downgraded to a tropical depression Thursday night as it makes it way further inland toward the northeast.

Maximum sustained winds were 30 mph overnight into Friday morning.

“Little change in strength is expected on Friday,” the National Hurricane Center said, “with strengthening expected late Saturday into Sunday as Laura moves into the northwest Atlantic.”

All coastal watches and warnings have been lifted by the National Hurricane Center. Hazardous rainfall, tornadoes and surf swells continue as Laura sweeps across Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky.

“The storm could have been much worse in higher-populated areas like Lake Charles and Port Arthur if the Category 4 hurricane tracked just to the west of those cities,” The Weather Channel said.

Texas and Louisiana dealers braced for the hurricane on Wednesday by closing stores and in some cases evacuating.

Beaumont, Texas, dealer Mitchell Dale closed Wednesday and Thursday and moved inventory to higher ground. He was pleasantly surprised to find “minimal damage” at his store Thursday.

“When you look at the damage that the storm did and we could potentially be hit, I would do the same thing next time,” he said. “It was the right thing to do knowing the information we knew.”

Dale reopened McRee Ford for normal business hours Friday morning.

“We’re sorry for the folks that got hit but we’re grateful that we didn’t.”

Lindsay VanHulle contributed to this report.