Photos: Deadly tornadoes slam Louisiana as winter storm system moves east
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Devastating tornadoes generated by a major winter storm hammering the central United States have left at least three people dead and destruction in their wake in parts of the South, with twisters continuing to pose a threat in some areas as rain, snow and icy conditions move toward the East Coast on Thursday.
There have been at least 50 reports of tornadoes across Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida since Tuesday, CNN reported, and more than 15 million people could see severe weather on Thursday in parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Florida until 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) confirmed Wednesday evening that a 56-year-old woman in St. Charles Parish died after a tornado destroyed her house, bringing the total number of confirmed storm-related deaths in the state to three. Earlier on Wednesday, LDH confirmed the deaths of a 30-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son “who died of blunt force trauma after a tornado destroyed their home” in Caddo Parish.
“I take away just how powerful and destructive tornadoes are,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters Wednesday evening after surveying the damage in Union Parish. “It’s almost like rolling the dice. If you live on one side of the street it looks like absolutely nothing happened, and on the other side of the street you may have five or six homes in a row that are totally destroyed.”
The governor, who is surveying damage and meeting with officials in Iberia, St. Charles, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes on Thursday, said there had been significant damage in communities across the state, with 21 tornadoes reported in 24 hours. In Farmerville, a town in Union Parish, there was “extensive damage” at a number of housing units in an apartment complex, and 12 to 15 houses had been damaged to the point that they were unlivable. And in Iberia Parish, a tornado caused extensive damage to a hospital.
More than 50,000 accounts across Louisiana didn’t have electricity as of Wednesday evening.
But Edwards said that although he has declared a state of emergency, he doesn’t anticipate there will be a federal declaration.
“We’re not likely to meet the monetary threshold in damage that’s necessary to trigger that and trigger federal resources,” he said. “Having said that, my declaration means that all state agencies will be assisting all local governments to make sure that we can respond to and recover from this disaster. We’re going to make our agencies and resources available.”