TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. – Louisiana is assessing the damages after a tornado ripped through Tangipahoa Parish overnight.
Tornado Watches were in place for more than 5 million Americans as the threat of severe storms rolled into the lower Mississippi Valley on Wednesday. Communities from Texas to Missouri reported seeing the damage that included large hail, damaging winds and at least one tornado.
The hardest hit appeared to be Tangipahoa Parish, located about 60 miles east of Baton Rouge, where Louisiana authorities spent the evening surveying damage after the observed tornado rolled through just after sunset.
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Lynelle Posey was in her living room using candles and flashlights after her lights went out during the storm. She then got an alert on her phone to seek shelter immediately.
“The next thing I know, the top of the trailer came off,” she recalled as she became trapped underneath her roof.
Posey said she was stuck for about 30 minutes until a sheriff’s deputy arrived to help rescue her from the rubble.
“I wasn’t panicking,” she said. “I was scared for a bit, but I never thought about death.”
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This is supposed to be a quiet time for residents in the area before hurricane season, but this year has been everything but that.
Posey’s mother, Robin Robinson, spent her Thursday salvaging what she could from her home – especially her insulin. Her family has survived every major storm in her parish.
“Rita, Ida, Katrina, we went through them all,” she said. “And this one here just came and took us out. This one took us out. We went through all that.”
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s office confirms at least three non-life-threatening injuries and no reported deaths from the storm.
A National Weather Service team will examine radar imagery and scout out damage to reconstruct the tornado‘s path to determine its rating.