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2 tornadoes in metro New Orleans get EF2 rating; see updates

Damage from a tornado in Harvey, Louisiana. Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022.
Carly Berlin / WWNO
Damage from a tornado in Harvey, Louisiana. Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022.

UPDATE, Friday at 10 a.m.:

NWS released damage reports on two tornadoes that caused destruction in Louisiana on Wednesday.

The tornado in St. Charles Parish that killed a woman and damaged 55 structures in Killona and Montz was given an EF2 rating. An EF2 is considered "strong" and had wind speeds of 120 mph.

The twister also traveled 4.76 miles for about five minutes. In that time, it also injured eight people.

The twister that touched down in the West Bank of Jefferson Parish and moved to Arabi also received an EF2 rating. The storm, which had wind speeds of 125 mph, caused significant damage of homes and businesses in its 9.52-mile-long path, but officials said they were lucky to report only minor injuries.

The NWS report said there were six injuries and no fatalities. The twister lasted for 15 minutes.

Tornadoes are rated from EF0 to EF5. An EF2 — the rating received by both tornadoes in the metro New Orleans area — is considered "strong" and has wind speeds between 111 to 135 mph. The highest a tornado can be classified is an EF5, described as "violent" with wind speeds more than 200 mph.


UPDATE, Thursday at 2 p.m.:

Gov. John Bel Edwards toured storm damage across south Louisiana on Thursday.

In New Iberia, where the Iberia Medical Center sustained serious damage from a tornado, Edwards said it is unlikely that there will be enough damage to qualify for federal disaster aid despite the catastrophic damage experienced in some pockets of the state

Edwards urged storm victims to document damage at damage.la.gov.

Later, Edwards stopped in St. Charles Parish to survey storm damage there.

“Tornadoes are so different from hurricanes because the really destructive path can sometimes only be a few hundred yards wide, and that’s what it was here,” Edwards said. “I can only imagine we’ve got a lot of people in Louisiana wondering today, ‘why me?’”

“You go down the street, and on one side of the street, it looks like absolutely nothing happened, but the house on the other side of the street is gone, and the person who lived there is dead,” Edwards added.

Parish President Matthew Jewell said the damage in his parish was concentrated around the town of Killona where 55 structures sustained serious damage. Of those, 24 of the structures were compromised and another 21 were deemed uninhabitable.

Jewell identified Allison Alexander of Killona as the 56-year-old woman killed in Wednesday’s tornado. The mother and grandmother died when a tornado touched down briefly in Killona, destroying several houses along Schoolhouse Road before jumping over the Mississippi River and touching down again in Montz.

The next stop of the day for Edwards was in the West Bank of Jefferson Parish, where another tornado touched down the day before, damaging homes and businesses in its path toward St. Bernard Parish across the river.

He didn't go into detail about the number of damaged structures in Gretna and Harvey, but said Wednesday's storms were a "significant disaster." The governor also noted that he doesn't think the state will be able to qualify for individual or public federal disaster aid.

"As of right now, we don't believe that there will be a federal disaster declaration," Edwards said. "In fact, we're quite certain no individual assistance will be available."

The tornadoes largely skirted Orleans Parish, but one did touch down briefly in Algiers. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell praised first responders and city officials for their close coordination to prepare for and respond to the storm.

“We can never in any way predict exactly where a storm will hit — all we can do is be prepared,” Cantrell said during a press conference Thursday morning. “That is something that your public safety team absolutely demonstrated on the ground.”

Thomas Mulligan, Deputy CEO of the Office of Business and External Services, said damage assessments were ongoing in Orleans Parish, but at least two dozen structures in Orleans Parish were damaged by the tornado.

Most of those were located in the 1400 block of Tita St., the 1100 block of Southlawn Blvd. and the St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church on Wiltz St., which was destroyed.

“We’ll have a fuller understanding of the complete scope of damage after we’re able to do a full assessment,” Mulligan said. “We’ve certainly identified structures that require emergency demolition because of the extent of the damage, but today we’re doing a more in-depth investigation with our building inspectors because we could have a building that doesn’t look bad from the outside, but upon closer inspection does pose imminent danger.”


UPDATE, Thursday, 10:45 a.m.:

The National Weather Service office in Shreveport confirmed Thursday morning that the tornado that touched down in Union Parish on Tuesday had a rating of EF-3. The twister caused 14 injuries as it carved a path through just over 9 miles of Northwest Louisiana with estimated peak wind speeds of 140 miles per hour.

The tornado touched down at Bayou D’Arbonne Lake and traveled northeast through Farmerville before dissipating.

NWS Shreveport reported Wednesday evening that Tuesday’s tornado in Caddo Parish, which injured two and resulted in two of the three tornado deaths in Louisiana this week, had an EF-2 rating with peak wind speeds of 115 miles per hour.

The Caddo Parish tornado touched down in Four Forks and traveled 3.5 miles northeast before dissipating. Two bodies were found Tuesday night near a home that was destroyed by the twister, according to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office identified the victims as 8-year-old Nikolus Little and his mother, Yoshiko A. Smith, according to KTAL/KMSS.


UPDATE, Thursday, 9:15 a.m.:

United Way of Southeast Louisiana is accepting public donations to help Louisiana families devastated by Wednesday's tornadoes.

“Many of the affected households are still in the process of recovering from Hurricane Ida and even the March tornado, leaving them without the resources necessary to confront yet another rebuild,” said Michael Williamson, UWSELA President and CEO in a statement. “The holiday season is upon us, and United Way believes every family deserves cheer and love this time of year. Let’s show our neighbors just how much we care when they need it most.”

Here's a link to the Tornado Relief fund: UnitedWaySELA.org/TornadoRelief


UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: In a post to his social media on Wednesday evening, Gov. John Bel Edwards said 21 tornadoes hit Louisiana in a 24-hour period and took three lives.

"Folks, Louisiana was just hit by 21 tornadoes in 24 hours," Edwards said in a Facebook post. "And tragically, we can confirm that those tornadoes took the lives of at least three of our fellow Louisianans. Donna and I are praying for the families and communities who lost loved ones and everyone who suffered injuries or lost their homes."

Edwards said he spent the day in north Louisiana, where the severe weather hit first and killed a woman and her 8-year-old son in Caddo Parish. On Thursday, the governor will visit southeast Louisiana to see the damage left by multiple tornadoes Wednesday evening.

More than 38,000 people were without power in Louisiana after multiple tornadoes and heavy rain moved across the state on Wednesday.

In southeast Louisiana, the majority of those power outages were in Jefferson Parish, with 23,036 customers in the dark as of 6:45 p.m. That number had grown slightly since the tornado first touched down in the parish.

Other parishes significantly impacted by power outages or the tornadoes had the following number of reported power outages:

  • Orleans Parish: 8,004
  • St. Bernard Parish: 3,046
  • St. Charles Parish: 295

You can view outage numbers for Entergy here.

Jefferson Parish officials held a press conference at 8 p.m. in Harvey after spending much of the evening assessing damage, and confirmed there were only minor injuries to report.

However, the damage was significant in a 2-mile, 9-by-5 block located between Harvey and Gretna, where the tornado didn't move in a straight line, but rather popped around on its way to St. Bernard Parish. Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng described one neighborhood as resembling Grand Isle after Hurricane Ida — missing roofs, torn off siding and major exterior damage.

"If you recall what Grand Isle looked like — the houses exposed — many houses are like that now," Lee Sheng said. "There are not as much as in Grand Isle, but in that neighborhood, there are about 15 or so."

Other significant damage included an old Winn Dixie that appeared crushed. Lee Sheng said West Jefferson High School and Marrero Middle School will be closed due to damage, and it's possible other schools will be closed due to electricity.

Jefferson Parish officials urged people to avoid the affected areas until first responders give an all clear.


UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: At least four tornadoes touched down in Louisiana on Wednesday due to a severe weather event: one in Caddo Parish, New Iberia, St. Charles Parish and one that traveled from the West Bank to St. Bernard Parish.

Officials have confirmed three deaths from tornadic activity. LDH said a 30-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son died of blunt force trauma after their Caddo Parish home was destroyed by a tornado earlier Wednesday.

A third death was confirmed Wednesday evening out of St. Charles Parish: a 56-year-old woman, whose home was destroyed in Killona. During a press conference, St. Charles Parish officials said the woman was found dead outside of her home, and the damage in the area was catastrophic, including a mobile home that was lifted from its yard and thrown into another front yard. At least eight people were injured.

Photo of a damaged Winn Dixie grocery store in Marrero. Provided by Gretchen Hirt Gendron, public information office director in Jefferson Parish.
Photo of a damaged Winn Dixie grocery store in Marrero. Provided by Gretchen Hirt Gendron, public information office director in Jefferson Parish.

Wednesday's storm came just two and half weeks after another tornado ripped through the community of Paradis in St. Charles Parish on Nov. 26, according to the St. Charles Herald Guide.

“For the second time in two weeks, we've had a tornado touch down in St. Charles Parish,” St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said. “This one created quite a bit of devastation.”

The tornado that touched down in Jefferson Parish also hit Arabi, a still-recovering community that was struck by another devastating twister in March. NOLA.com reported that officials in St. Bernard Parish were still assessing damage.

A WWL-TV reporter tweeted that there were minor injuries out of Arabi, but St. Bernard Parish President Mike McInnis said the tornado wasn't "as significant as it was last time."

In Jefferson Parish, public information office director Gretchen Hirt Gendron said there were no reports of fatalities out of Gretna or Marrero, and officials there were sifting through the significant damage left by the tornado.

Jefferson Parish Council Member Scott Walker said during an interview with WWL-TV that the damage was mostly found in Gretna and Marrero, but it the destruction was significant, specifically along Manhattan Boulevard and in Gretna between 6th and 9th streets.

In New Orleans, there were reports of flooding across the city, from the intersection of Tulane and Carrollton to New Orleans East. See flooding reports here.


UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: After a tornado touched down in the West Bank and moved across the Mississippi River to St. Bernard Parish, residents began sharing photos and videos of the tornadic activity and damage.

Outlets were reporting damage mainly in Gretna and Marrero, where the tornado first touched down.

Entergy's outage map also confirmed a significant number power outages across the area, with more than 20,000 customers without power in Jefferson Parish and another 9,000 in the dark in Orleans Parish as of 4:30 p.m.

New Orleans and parts of Jefferson Parish were also under a flash flood warning until 7:30 p.m., NWS said.


UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: NWS issued a tornado warning for New Orleans and parts of Jefferson Parish, including Marrero and Harvey, until 4:30 p.m. Officials said to take cover until the warning is over.

Shortly after the warning was issued, NWS officials confirmed a tornado was spotted on radar in the West Bank in Jefferson Parish. The tornado then moved at about 35 mph over the Mississippi River toward Arabi and Chalmette, according to Jefferson Parish emergency officials on WWL-TV.

NOLA.com reported a death in St. Charles Parish after a tornado moved through the area. Officials said more were injured, and there was significant damage left after the tornado hit Wednesday afternoon.


UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: A tornado was confirmed by NWS radar near Abita Springs around 3 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after the agency issued a tornado warning for parts of St. Tammany Parish. Parts of the north shore are also under a flash flood warning until 6 p.m.


The New Orleans metro area is under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. as a severe weather event moves across southeast Louisiana on Wednesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Shawn O'Neil said the New Orleans area is in a "very favorable environment" for tornado development heading into Wednesday evening, hours after multiple tornado warnings were issued in the Baton Rouge area and St. Tammany Parish. One tornado was confirmed to have hit a hospital in New Iberia, and another tornado killed two people in north Louisiana.

"We have had a lot of rotation on the radar and have had to issue tornado warnings because of that," O'Neil said.

A watch means conditions are favorable for tornadic formation, while a warning means a tornado has been spotted on radar, and residents in the area should take cover.

Severe weather conditions are expected to hit New Orleans around 3 p.m. and last well into the evening, O'Neil said. Residents should prepare for heavy rainfall, and flooding could be an issue as well, as seen in other parts of the state earlier Wednesday.

NWS meteorologists also issued a flood watch for southeast Louisiana, including Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, until 9 p.m.

O'Neil said the amount of rain will depend on how long the line takes to pass over New Orleans, but that two to four inches of rainfall is likely.

Because of the rain and potential flooding, city officials said the ban on neutral ground parking would be lifted at 3 p.m. Wednesday through 8 a.m. Thursday. City Hall also closed at 1 p.m., as did various schools in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany and other surrounding parishes.

In severe weather events like Wednesday's, O'Neil said it's important to follow the news or NWS for updates on changing warnings and conditions.

"Have some kind of way to get warnings," O'Neil said. "When the warning is issued, take action. You got to do it, especially on a day like today."

For more weather updates from NWS, click here.

Staff reporter Paul Braun contributed to this article.

Katelyn Umholtz is the digital editor for WWNO and WRKF and is based out of New Orleans.
Halle Parker reports on the environment for WWNO's Coastal Desk. You can reach her at hparker@wwno.org.

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