New Iberia reports tornado damage as severe weather passes through area
Two tornadoes have been reported in New Iberia as severe weather passed through the area on Wednesday.
The New Iberia Police Department posted on its Facebook that two tornadoes touched down. One touched down in the Southport Subdivision area, near East Admiral Doyle Drive, where several homes were damaged and people were trapped.
"Rescue efforts are underway," the department posted at the time. "All civilians need to avoid this area."
The department said active power lines were down across yards and in the road.
The other touched down near the New Iberia Medical Center, which sustained significant damage, the department said in a Facebook video.
The New Iberia Police Department, New Iberia Fire Department, Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana State Police all are on scene.
Randall Mann with Acadian Ambulance told KLFY that New Iberia Medical Center took a direct hit from the tornado but that the facility was still accepting patients.
Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Katherine Breaux told the news station there was one reported injury so far.
“With help from the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, we are setting up a command post at New Iberia Senior High School for those displaced from their homes," she said. "This is an active situation, and we ask that everyone continue to shelter in place. Check on your neighbors and loved ones."
The New Iberia Police Department created a temporary shelter at the New Iberia Senior High School where officers and medical staff were on site. Anyone displaced and without transportation to get to the school can call 337-329-2306 and request transportation.
The storm is part of a larger cold front system that has been sweeping across the southeast. The National Weather Service in Lake Charles warned that all modes of severe weather were possible Tuesday evening into Wednesday night including damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes and flash flooding.
The storms caused three deaths in Louisiana. A mother, 30, and her son, 8, were killed Tuesday after their Caddo Parish home was destroyed by a tornado. A 56-year-old was killed Wednesday after a tornado destroyed her home in St. Charles Parish, the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed.
Tornadoes also touched down in Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma and severe weather impacted Alabama and Florida. Blizzard conditions forced closures of scores of interstates and other roads in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Caddo Parish tornado:Louisiana tornado leaves mother, son dead. Caddo coroner releases names
Winter storm updates:People trapped in tornado-battered homes in Louisiana, blizzard in North, ice headed to Northeast
This is a developing story.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: New Iberia reports tornado damage as severe weather passes through
