Two large tornadoes hurtled through New Orleans Tuesday evening, causing severe damage to homes and power lines and killing at least one person.
A 26-year-old man was reported dead after first responders found him outside of his home in St Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans, The Washington Post reported.
Several other residents were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
One hard-hit region, St Bernard Parish, saw ‘major widespread damage,’ Parish President Guy McGinnis told WDSU-TV.
Much of southern Louisiana is still recovering from Hurricane Ida, the devastating Category 4 storm that hit the area last August, killing over 100 people in the South and Caribbean.
The storm front brought heavy rain and powerful winds to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Around 5 million people in the region would be in harms way due to the dangerous weather, according to the National Weather Service.
By 9pm Tuesday evening, search and rescue operations were fully underway in New Orleans.
The US Army Reserve teams from New Orleans and Baton Rouge were dispatched to areas affected by the storm.
‘This is the typical time of the year for these events to unfold. Spring-time is prime for severe weather,’ said National Weather Service Meteorologist Roger Erickson.
The multiday storm that spurred tornadoes across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana will continue moving southeast Wednesday. Another round of severe weather is expected to hit northern Florida to eastern Virginia, and possibly southeastern Maryland, according to AccuWeather forecasters.
Severe thunderstorms will be a risk in parts of northern Florida and southeastern Georgia into Wednesday evening. The threatening weather conditions could extend into Thursday along parts of the coast.
People in the Southeast may also experience locally dangerous weather conditions, including strong wind gusts, hail and flash flooding.
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