Nine tornadoes hit Southeast Louisiana and Mississippi on Thursday and Friday. All of them, meteorologists say, where the result of Tropical Storm Arthur.
The National Weather Service announced confirmation of those twisters on Saturday. NWS officials noted that their investigations continue and that more tornadoes could be confirmed later.
Four of those tornadoes struck the Houma area early Thursday morning. Three were rated EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, while the fourth was rated as an EF0. Those tornadoes, which had peak wind speeds of 85 to 95 miles-per-hour, damaged several homes and a shopping center.
Greater New Orleans saw two tornadoes, an EF1 that struck an Avondale trailer park, leaving two people injured, and an EF1 on the Eastbank that tracked from the Mississippi River near Ochsner Hospital all the way to the University of New Orleans. That storm, which stayed on the ground for more than seven miles, caused tree damage near City Park, damaged at least one home in Gentilly, and flipped a rail car on the tracks near L&A Road.
Later in the morning, an EF1 tornado with winds of 105 miles per hour formed near Eden Isle and tracked 12 miles into Hancock County, Mississippi. The nearly 300-yard-wide tornado damaged a number of homes and businesses in the Slidell area and flipped a boat at Treasure Isle.
Thursday's final tornado was an EF1 that traveled through Hancock and Harrison Counties. That twister caused mostly tree damage along its six-mile track.
On Friday, an EF0 tornado briefly touched down in Arabi and Chalmette, ripping shingles from homes and damaging fences and trees.
