A burst of severe weather Wednesday spawned damaging tornadoes in Slidell and Lake Charles and buffeted areas in between with ferocious winds.
In the 香港六和开奖历史记录 area, the damage was most severe in parishes north of the city, like East and West Feliciana. Officials there reported several injuries 鈥 but no fatalities 鈥 and said the recovery could take several days.
West Feliciana Parish Sheriff Brian L. Spillman said the damage was severe enough that the parish declared a state of emergency.
"It was a pretty traumatic event for our parish," he said.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday evening confirmed damage north of St. Francisville was "consistent with at least an EF-1 tornado." An EF rating of 1 indicates a peak wind gust of up to 110 miles per hour. A survey of the damage was ongoing to determine the tornado's path length, width and wind speeds, the NWS said.
The storm knocked down trees, snarled power lines, damaged roofs and hurled debris, leading to road closures and other disruptions.
Spillman said workers were prioritizing clearing roads so first responders could move freely, but a full recovery could take days.聽
"We鈥檙e almost 100% without power in the parish," he said. "There's probably a 72-hour window before we're going to have power restored, and that's probably a gracious estimate."
The Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana and East Feliciana Parish school districts announced they would remain closed through at least Thursday.
West Feliciana Superintendent Hollis Milton cited power outages, road closures, and the number of downed trees. One former school that is now a student activity center had several trees fall on it, Milton said.
The National Weather Service said it observed wind speeds of 60 mph or more in Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes. While official rain totals weren't available, initial reports ranged from 4 to 7 inches of water.
At least two other tornadoes
In Lake Charles, an EF-2 tornado touched down near McNeese State University around 6:38 a.m., the National Weather Service said. The twister produced winds of 115 mph, ripping roofs off homes and causing widespread tree damage.
Moss Memorial Health Complex saw significant roof damage, the weather service said.
Slidell saw perhaps the most widespread destruction in Louisiana.
Parish President Mike Cooper declared a state of emergency, saying hundreds of homes had been damaged.聽
Slidell Police spokesperson Daniel Seuzeneau said one of the worst hit areas appeared to be near the intersection of Pontchartrain Drive and Kostmayer Avenue, where videos and pictures showed at least one heavily damaged building, along with overturned cars, downed power lines and trees and branches littering the rowadways.
"It's bad," Seuzeneau said at 10:40 a.m., while surveying the scene. "There are buildings with extensive damage, cars overturned."
Seuzeneau said it was a confirmed tornado. The National Weather Service reported the damage near the Old Spanish Trail area was consistent with at least an EF-1 tornado.
Amyrie Gilbert, 18, was stocking the drink cooler in the Ace Hardware in the 3300 block of Pontchartrain Drive when the windows started rattling. When the first window broke, "that鈥檚 when my boss said 鈥楻un! Run!'
"Me and four other people crammed under my boss鈥檚 desk while it was all happening,鈥 said Gilbert, who said nobody was injured.
Widespread outages
Most of the 香港六和开奖历史记录 area was spared major damage, but thousands of people lost power.
More than 11,000 Entergy customers in East 香港六和开奖历史记录 Parish were without power as of noon, the company reported. More than 3,000 outages were reported in East Feliciana, more than 2,800 in Pointe Coupee and more than 1,000 in West Feliciana. Statewide, more than 73,000 customers lost power.
DEMCO reported almost 10,000 outages in East 香港六和开奖历史记录, 4,500 in East Feliciana and 3,200 in West Feliciana.聽
Most Entergy customers in Ascension Parish who lost power Wednesday can expect power to be restored Wednesday night, the company said in an email. Crews estimate 香港六和开奖历史记录 and Denham Springs-area customers will have power restored Thursday evening, and by Thursday night for Port Allen and Zachary-area customers, Entergy said.
Along La. 61 near St. Francisville, multiple large trees had fallen, some of them tangling up power lines. The damage was noticeably worse on the northern end of town.
Drew Cantwell, manager of The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, said his team was working to clean up trees and limbs that came down. He said it was one of the worst storms the popular tourist attraction had seen in years.聽
"Luckily, the house did really, really well," Cantwell said. "It dodged any major damage."
However, some of the famous oak trees on the site, which are estimated to be 200 years old or older, were damaged.
"Unfortunately, you can't just buy a new one of those," Cantwell said.
Workers at St. Francisville's Audubon Veterinary Hospital could be seen cleaning damage from around a half dozen fallen trees and limbs. The crew used an excavator to clean up large debris that appeared to have missed the facility's main building but did significant damage to two vehicles on the property and the hospital's animal run.
At Pat's Home Center, workers were clearing debris from the parking lot, including tree stands and barbecue pits. A manager said it was not certain when power would be restored.聽
Staff writers Julia Guilbeau, Bob Warren, Gabby Jimenez and Charles Lussier contributed to this story.聽
