People in the New Orleans area awakened to find their homes severely destroyed and the streets littered with debris the day after two tornadoes struck the city.
Early on Wednesday, the National Weather Service confirmed that two tornadoes had touched down in the area the night before: one in Lacombe, north of the city across Lake Pontchartrain, and another that struck both the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, killing at least one person and sending more to the hospital.
They spent the night searching for residents who may have been stranded by rescuing National Guardsmen, state police, and others.
A parish president in St. Bernard Parish, Guy McInnis, said in an interview that “we don’t know how many people have been displaced or injured and we don’t know the amount of the damage.” Officials were still trying to figure that out.
By Law Enforcement Official James Pohlmann
“There are houses that have been taken,” he stated. A bird hit the asphalt, causing a traffic jam.
When 44-year-old Aaron Ledet heard the wind, he went to the bathroom right away. That’s what I did: I put my family in the tub and prayed. His house was blown into the middle of the street after the winds stopped. Ledet, who served in the US Navy as a search and rescue specialist, said he helped save a girl whose oxygen tank had malfunctioned.
Similar Incidents Occurred
On Tuesday night, similar incidents occurred all across St. Bernard Parish. Following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the parish in 2005, neighbours came together once more to provide a hand in the aftermath of the storm’s aftermath, despite the darkness, fallen tree branches, live power lines, and the strong smell of gas emanating from ruptured gas lines.
On Tuesday night, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff McInnis remarked, “We have a long road ahead of us with this recovery,” according to a news conference he held.
When she heard “tonnes of wind approaching rapidly,” 22-year-old Callie Marshall placed a mud mask to her face. She felt the shaking in her St. Bernard Parish home. Her shower wall was littered with tiles that had come crashing down..
Because of a nearby giant oak tree and another house farther down the block that had been completely levelled by the funnel cloud she was holding her 2-year-old son Luke as she crouched close to the bathroom toilet.
Spring Storms Were Moving
Spring storms were moving across the Deep South when the tornado struck, and they were blamed for at least one other death. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards had closed several governmental offices and schools in Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday morning, only hours before the tornado struck.
“The potential of severe weather and flooding should lessen slightly” on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. According to PowerOutage.us, a website that aggregates data from utilities across the United States, about 100,000 individuals in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana were without power at some point on Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning, most of the damage was repaired.
Early on Wednesday morning, a tornado watch was in effect for parts of the Florida Panhandle and southeast Alabama.
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Last Words
In February of last year, the National Weather Service projected wind speeds of up to 150 mph in the city of New Orleans. 33 people were injured and 600 dwellings were destroyed by the storm.
