Post-Tropical Storm Arthur spawned at least four tornadoes in the New Orleans area and one in Mississippi early Thursday morning, causing damage across the metro.
The first two tornadoes hit the Houma area. According to Terrebonne Parish President Jason Bergeron.
"We have water in some homes and some businesses," Bergeron said. "We had a couple of tornadoes touch down. We know for sure that we have a few streets that have multiple homes that were damaged.
"In the areas where those homes were damaged, we definitely had some power outages and some poles get damage to them," Bergeron added. "We're going through--us, Cleco, and Entergy . . . We're all working through getting repairs made."
The National Weather Service said their radar confirmed a tornado hit Airline Drive and L&A Road in Metairie. NWS officials will go to that scene later today to conduct damage assessments. That tornado may also be responsible for structure damage along the Jefferson Highway near the Ochsner Hospital campus.
Another possible tornado destroyed several trailers in Avondale, putting one person in the hospital. That tornado flipped some of those trailers and threw one of them into another, knocking the second mobile home off its bricks.
One woman says she was on the phone with a neighbor while the tornado ripped through the area.
"I was actually on the phone with her at around 5:30 this morning," the woman said, holding back tears. "She just started screaming, 'It's falling on me! Help me! Help me!' By the time we were able to get to her she was gone."
Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said she's not yet willing to say the damage in her parish was caused by tornadic activity. She said the destruction is heartbreaking, but she added that she's grateful the parish didn't suffer any further loss of life or property.
"Thank God with this destruction--there was another building in Metairie that I was just at where the whole side of the building was torn off--we have not had major injuries or loss of life," Sheng said. "That's what I'm told. We're very, very fortunate for that in this parish."
That same possible tornado blew into New Orleans and knocked down trees and power lines near city park. One Gentilly home's wall collapsed because of the high winds.
The power outage for residents who live near the lake was the result of a tree falling into a power line near the old John F. Kennedy High School campus. New Orleans City Councilman Eugene Green says crews are working expeditiously to restore electricity to those residents.
"We're on top of it," Green said. "There are Entergy crews that are analyzing the situation. The bottom line is we're going to get power restored as quickly as possible and get these streets cleared by the Department of Public Works, which is already at work."
Later in the morning, a tornado touched down near the Louisiana/Mississippi State line, blowing through the Pearlington, Mississippi, area. Other tornadoes spawned warnings in the Slidell and Pearl River areas, with one potential tornado damaging a number of buildings in the Eden Isles and Slidell area.
"I can tell you there are widespread issues, whether it be flooding or downed trees," St. Tammany Parish Government spokesman Michael Vinsanau said. "We have received a few reports of damage to homes. People on social media reported to us that a tree either hit their roof or fell on their roof."
Radar indicated tornadoes may have touched down near Destrehan this morning, but we are awaiting confirmation of tornadic activity there. Brigadier General Jason Mahfouz, the director of the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, says he expects the weather service to confirm more tornadoes.
"I do believe when all the dust settles, we'll get some confirmed tornadic activity," Mahfouz says. "I'm not sure about touchdowns or how many were recorded overnight, but it was a pretty active night."
Mahfouz says his office is also keeping any eye on flooding caused by Arthur, especially on the Northshore.
"We have several rivers already at or near their flood stages, and as all of the drainage canals and structures drain into those rivers and bayous, we're going to see some flooding and inundation of low-lying areas. That's going to stick around for a little while until that flooding can subside," Mahfouz said.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley says water in his city is finally receding after heavy rain from Arthur flooded many of the city's major thoroughfares. Conley says Arthur reminded him of 2024's Hurricane Francine, which sat over the city for several hours and dumped flooding rain.
According to Conley, people driving on Kenner's flooded roadways created even more problems for local leaders.
"One of our biggest challenges now is getting people to the airport to catch flights because the airport access road went under water," Conley said. "Vehicles got stalled, blocking the roadways. Our crisis this morning was people getting on the roadways and getting stuck."
Conley says the water is finally draining.
"The canals have come over their banks, but we've had a nice break for about two hours allowing the pumps to catch up," Conley said. "We do see the water receding. We don't have that much structural intrusion--water going into homes and businesses--but we do have some."
Jefferson Parish emergency preparedness director Michael Guedry says the parish's pumps worked, but the amount of rain the parish received over a short amount of time led to some street flooding.
"We've had no mechanical failures, no lulls in the operation," Guedry said. "Everything turned on when it was supposed to. It was just a massive amount of water."
At the storm's peak, more than 38,000 Southeast Louisiana homes lost power. About a third of those homes were in Jefferson Parish.
Anyone who experienced storm damage can file reports with the Louisiana state government.
"They can go to damage.la.gov to report damages," Bergeron said.
