(Arabi) At least one person was killed Tuesday night when a tornado hit New Orleans and its suburbs, flipping cars and ripping roofs off in an area of Louisiana that had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina there. at 17 years old.
Posted at 10:59
Other tornadoes generated by the same weather system swept through portions of Texas and Oklahoma on Monday, killing a woman north of Dallas and causing multiple injuries and heavy property damage before sliding east.
Portions of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the south, appear to have been hit hard by bad weather, and it is here that a loss of life is reported. Officials did not provide further details, saying only that several other people were injured.
Rescuers continue to search for other victims or other victims, said Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann. St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis said the tornado caused significant damage.
The tornado appears to have touched down in a suburb before moving east, crossing Mississippi before hitting the Lower 9th Ward area in New Orleans and portions of St. Bernard Parish ― both heavily damaged by Katrina ― then to move northeast.
Other residents were affected last year by Ida, a Category 1 hurricane.
The smell of natural gas wafted through the air in Arabi, a neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish, where residents and rescue workers were trying to take in the full extent of the damage. Houses were destroyed and debris hung from trees and power lines. An aluminum rowboat had been folded in on itself and its outboard motor thrown across the street. Electric poles had been damaged or broken, forcing rescuers to move cautiously in the dark.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted late Tuesday that there are no reports of casualties or significant damage within the city limits, and that power is being restored.
Some 13,000 homes and businesses were apparently without power in the city’s three parishes. About 3,500 customers were still in the dark Wednesday morning, according to utility company Entergy.
Emergency shelters had opened in anticipation of the storm, and several schools had sent children home early in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
The severe weather arrived in Georgia on Wednesday morning, after dumping downpours, uprooting trees and causing multiple tornado warnings in the Deep South region. Several roofs were damaged in Toxey, Alabama, the US National Weather Service said.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has declared a disaster in 16 hard-hit counties. More than 20 people were injured across the state; a 73-year-old woman lost her life in Sherwood Shores, about 95 miles north of Dallas.