Storms tear into Texas, Oklahoma then move into Deep South
ELGIN, Texas • A tornado has touched down in New Orleans and the city’s suburbs Tuesday as part of a line of severe weather that started in Texas and Oklahoma and moved east into the Deep South.
The National Weather Service retweeted a video of the tornado in the eastern part of New Orleans that was visible in the darkened sky.
The tornado appeared to start in a New Orleans suburb and then move east across the Mississippi River into the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and parts of St. Bernard Parish before moving northeast.
It wasn’t immediately known whether anyone was injured. While the metropolitan region is often struck by severe weather and heavy rains, it’s rare that a tornado moves through the city.
One person was killed and more than two dozen were injured when tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma damaging a school, homes and businesses, before the storm system continued its destructive path Tuesday into Louisiana and Mississippi.
High winds uprooted trees in Ridgeland, Miss., as a possible tornado passed the Jackson-area city Tuesday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage to buildings. Campus police at Mississippi State University, in Starkville, shared a photo of a large hardwood tree lying across a street.
Forecasters issued multiple tornado warnings for the state, and alerts spread into Alabama as the line of storms moved eastward. More than 90,000 homes and businesses were left without power from Texas to Mississippi.
Many schools were closing early or canceling after-school activities Tuesday in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi to allow students to get home before the weather deteriorated.
Shelters opened for residents who need a place to stay while the storms traveled through.
High water posed a threat to motorists early Tuesday in Louisiana on several roads, including a stretch of Interstate 20 and several state highways after rains overnight, authorities said.
Deputies in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport, rescued three drivers from high waters.
Jarrod Schneider, who lives on Oxford Drive in Round Rock, Texas, helps his neighbors clean up Monday after a tornado heavily damaged several homes on the street.