Search and rescue underway in New Orleans after tornado strike

Search and rescue operations have begun in Louisiana’s New Orleans on Tuesday following a tornado strike that has killed at least one person. The storm shifted towards the East, moving away from Texas and Oklahoma. 

Rescue teams were deployed majorly to the Arabi area by the Lousiana Office of State Fire Marshal, according to reports from USA Today. The town, alongside the Mississippi River, had sustained “significant damage”.

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The New Orleans Fire Department had also requested authorities to provide a “major EMS response” amid reports of several injuries and people being trapped in the debris.

John Bel Edwards, the governor of Lousiana, said that the storm’s impact was still being assessed by state authorities. “My prayers are with you in Southeast Louisiana tonight. Please be safe”, the governor tweeted.

There were also local power outages in New Orleans East and the 9th Ward, according to reports from USA Today citing the President of the New Orleans City Council.

Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, said state agencies are helping to assess the storm’s impacts.

“My prayers are with you in Southeast Louisiana tonight. Please be safe,” he tweeted. 

The tornado appeared to start in a New Orleans suburb and then move east across the Mississippi River into the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans and parts of St. Bernard Parish — both of which were badly damaged by Katrina — before moving northeast.

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Some houses were destroyed while pieces of debris hung from electrical wires and trees. An aluminum fishing boat in front of one house was bent into the shape of a C with the motor across the street. Power poles were down and leaning over, forcing emergency workers to walk slowly through darkened neighborhoods checking for damage.

Other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma, killing one person and causing multiple injuries and widespread damage.