SEVERE WEATHER - A tornado tore through parts of New Orleans and its suburbs Tuesday night, flipping cars, ripping roofs off homes and killing at least one person in a region that was pummeled by Hurricane Katrina 17 years ago. Parts of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast, appeared to take the brunt of the weather’s fury, and that is where the so far single fatality occurred. St. Bernard Parish officials gave no details on how the person died; they said multiple other people were injured. The damage comes after other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a state disaster declaration for 16 counties affected by the tornadoes and other severe weather that hit North and Central Texas.
“The counties of Bastrop, Cass, Cooke, Grayson, Guadalupe, Houston, Jack, Madison, Marion, Montague, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Upshur, Williamson, and Wise,” Abbott said.
The Texas Governor spoke Tuesday after surveying the damage in Jacksboro in North Texas —one of the hardest-hit areas. The National Weather Service is still assessing how many tornadoes touched down in Texas. Meanwhile, emergency managers say a tornado in North Texas killed a 73-year-old woman. Across the state, some injuries have been reported, and multiple homes, businesses, and schools were damaged as well. The National Weather Service is investigating damage from a possible tornado in Nacogdoches County in East Texas. The County Sheriff’s Office reports some houses were damaged between the Sacul and Cushing area. Cleanup efforts were underway late yesterday afternoon. No deaths nor injuries have been reported for that area.
Further north in Upshur County, people are still cleaning up after a tornado struck south of Gilmer, Texas. Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service indicate the tornado was rated EF-2 with 130 mph winds. No fatalities or injuries have been reported. The track of the tornado started just northeast of Tyler, Texas, and continued to the Northeast past Lake of the Pines and into Upshur and Cass counties.
