NEW ORLEANS — A large area of disturbed weather blasted through southeast Louisiana, spawning tornadoes and leaving at least one person dead, tens of thousands without power and hundreds of buildings with damage, primarily on the west bank of Jefferson Parish, areas of St. Charles Parish and St. Bernard Parish.
As of 4 a.m.., there were about 9,500 Entergy customers without power in the Greater New Orleans area, a majority on the west bank of Jefferson, a small area in Algiers and Arabi in St. Bernard. .
Wednesday's weather was an extremely rare severe weather setup with chances of tornadoes given the second highest risk rating - a 4 out of a possible 5.
A first round of unstable weather in the early afternoon left one person dead and seven others injured in St. Charles Parish, while a second round spawned at least one tornado that struck and left several buildings damaged in Marrero and Gretna on Jefferson Parish's west bank before heading across the river to St. Bernard Parish in a path eerily similar to one earlier this year that devastated parts of Arabi.
St. Charles 'Didn't need this again'
In St. Charles Parish the tornado struck around 2:30 p.m. The tornado left dozens of homes damaged, one person dead and eight sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Sheriff Greg Champagne said the storm caused "quite a bit of devastation."
Champagne said that areas of St. Charles that had damage were either just recovering or still recovering from Hurricane Ida, whose eyewall struck in some of the same areas.
"They didn't need this again. I heard residents say that they just can't seem to catch a break."
Champagne said that power companies were bringing in portable lights to help guard people's homes while they are not at the scene.
He said the department's firing range sustained a lot of damage, which he said "is completely insignificant compared to the people's homes and injuries." However, he did say that a large piece of debris near where he was standing came from the firing range, which is 1.8 miles away, showing just how strong the winds were.
Champagne said anyone needing help with something to eat can call 985-783-5050. Also, anyone needing shelter can go to the Killona Community Center.
2nd tornado strikes Marrero, Gretna, Algiers, Arabi
Later in the afternoon a tornado formed that followed an eerily similar pattern to a tornado in March of this year. It started near Marrero, badly damaging areas in about a 9 block by 5 block area, according to Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee-Sheng.
A lot of the damage was on Barataria Blvd. between the exit to the West Bank Expressway and about midway on Barataria before Lapalco.
West Jefferson Hospital, near the strike area, was on generator power Wednesday evening due to nearly a dozen power poles being down in the area. Entergy Louisiana was prioritizing getting power back to the hospital.
Lee-Sheng said that several homes were exposed with the roofs off. She said that most of the residents she talked to said they were insured. Lee-Sheng also said that, most importantly, no one lost their life.
"We've had no victims, and that is a blessing. Crying from the loss of a loved one is a different type of cry and I haven't had to hear that tonight."
After Marrero, the tornado did damage in Gretna where a several block area near Hancock and Fourth Street had similar damage to Marrero.
According to Lee Sheng, there were "Christmas trees outdoors and outdoor trees inside of homes."
Lee-Sheng said that Entergy received a priority list from the parish and would be restoring power in the most critical areas and then make assessments about
The storm then hopped over to Algiers, damaging a part of a block off General Meyer and Tita Streets.
Then, just like in March, the tornado passed over the Mississippi River, re-gaining some strength and then striking Arabi in St. Bernard Parish. Thankfully, the damage there seemed to be less severe than in March.
Gretna badly hit
City leaders in Gretna said that hundreds of buildings were damaged and that there were streetlights out and downed power lines that make it hard for people to get around.
Mayor Belinda Constant said that it was a miracle that no one was hurt. She said there are buildings with very bad damage but people had survived being in a safe spot.