A tornado hit the New Orleans area Tuesday night, destroying homes and cars, as well as leaving at least one person dead following the storm.
The weather-related damage hit the St. Bernard Parish the hardest; one person was reported dead and others injured.
The damage followed the widespread tornadoes associated with the storm system that led to wind damage and tornadoes in parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Tuesday.
A WVUE-TV viewer shared a video showing the large storm passing through the Lower 9th Ward.
NEW ORLEANS TORNADO VIDEO! Large, multi-vortex tornado crossing through the Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans East (Credit: WVUE viewer Brad Cheramie). Watch live coverage here: https://t.co/UGMmFdXCW2 pic.twitter.com/CF8z2qu4nb
— Jeff Castle KSLA (@jeffcastleksla) March 23, 2022
A second video from a local resident also showed the destructive power of the storm crossing through the area.
Heartbreaking scene from New Orleans Metro. Significant damage reported in Arabi/Lower Ninth Ward. 📸Clint, Chalmette looking towards Arabi. @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/oZA1sI74hZ
— Scot Pilié (@ScotPilie_Wx) March 23, 2022
Another person captured the tornado from a boat along the Mississippi River.
🌪️ Video of tornado that moved through New Orleans earlier as seen from a vessel on the Mississippi River. @WGNOtv pic.twitter.com/5j5GhwEhJ5
— Brantly Keiek (@BrantlyWx) March 23, 2022
WDSU-TV New Orleans showed a large funnel cloud live as it occurred across the city.
Omg look at this tornado that was moving through New Orleans pic.twitter.com/OUCihRhdm8
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 23, 2022
The National Weather Service of New Orleans posted an image of the WDSU-TV image of the tornado at 7:35 PM local time, urging residents, “Take shelter now!”
Large tornado on the ground in New Orleans! Take shelter now! #lawx #mswx https://t.co/6CJcfdQNJ8
— NWS New Orleans (@NWSNewOrleans) March 23, 2022
The Arabi area appeared to experience some of the worst damage as shown by one local reporter.
My heart is shattered as we continue to walk through Arabi. A man from Tennessee who lives here was able to grab his 5-yr old son as his home was completely ravaged and keep both safe. Amazing. If you’re the praying type, please send prayers to the people in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/BGvpjNFEqB
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) March 23, 2022
WWL-TV showed video footage from after the storm in the early morning hours as emergency work crews attempted to secure the area. No power appeared to be available in the area.
NEW VIDEO from Arabi: This is St. Claude Avenue near Friscoville Avenue https://t.co/kB5tJQybvm pic.twitter.com/W4vBO80qjU
— WWL-TV (@WWLTV) March 23, 2022
“New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted late Tuesday that there were no reports of casualties or significant damage to the city and that the power utility was working to restore electricity to the 8,000 customers impacted,” the Associated Press reported.
“About 13,000 homes and businesses were reportedly without power in the three parishes around New Orleans after the storm,” the report added.
The storm followed a massive tornado captured on video in Texas earlier this week. The Daily Wire reported:
Among the tornados that ripped through Texas and Oklahoma on Monday was one that terrified shoppers at a Walmart in Round Rock, Texas, who were shown on video fleeing their cars and running into the store as debris was hurled everywhere through the air around them, with one man shouting, “Get inside! Get inside! Run! Run! Run!”
“A confirmed tornado reached the ground in Luling, between Austin and San Antonio, according to the National Weather Service,” USA TODAY reported. “Another touched down in Round Rock, north of Austin, the Williamson County Office of Emergency Management said, in addition to a ‘massive tornado’ east of Round Rock, near Taylor. Wind and downed trees tore through the roofs of dozens of Round Rock houses and a few businesses east of Interstate 35 and north of Texas 45.”
Michael Talamantez of Round Rock, whose house was destroyed, said, “I thought I was going to die.”