A tornado flipped cars, ripped off rooftops, and deposited a house in the middle of a street in the New Orleans area, part of a storm front that caused damage in places as it blew from Texas to South Carolina.
Two deaths were attributed to the weather. Other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system had hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Monday, killing a woman north of Dallas and causing multiple injuries and widespread damage, before moving eastward.
The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down Tuesday night in St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast and in Lacombe, across Lake Pontchartrain from the city. Parish officials gave no details on how the person died; they said multiple other people were injured. Louisiana activated 300 National Guard personnel on Wednesday to assist St. Bernard Parish with route clearance, security, and engineering support.
Louisiana activated 300 National Guard personnel on Wednesday to assist St. Bernard Parish with route clearance, security, and engineering support. New Orleans television stations broadcast live images of the storm as it barreled across the metropolitan area.
In the aftermath, rescue workers were searching through Arabi, just east of the city’s Lower 9th Ward, where St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis said the tornado caused significant damage in an area wrecked by Katrina.
“We’re alive. That’s what I can say at this point. We still have four walls and part of a roof. I consider myself lucky,” said Mancuso. Still, the twister was the third time they’ve had major weather damage since Katrina in 2005.
