A tornado caused damage to a south western town of Rayne, Louisiana earlier this month. The tornado was the cause of a dozen reported injuries as well as the death of Jalisa Granger, a 21 year old mother who died while shielding her child from debris. Maxine Trahan, a spokeswoman from the Acadia Parish county sheriff’s office said, “She sheltered the child to protect her from the storm and a tree fell on the house and it killed the mother but the child was ok.”
More than 100 homes were damaged and most were destroyed. Around 1500 people had to evacuate because of natural gas leaks. Maxine Trahan, a spokeswoman from the Acadia Parish County Sheriff’s office said the all gas leaks were fixed and no one was injured from the gas.
The town of Rayne located 70 miles west of Baton Rouge has a population of 8500 people. The line of thunderstorms that went through the town was 3 miles long and caused a quarter of a mile width of damage. Reports of damage range from fallen trees smashing cars to a U.S. Postal Service truck being flipped on its side.
There were several confirmed EF-0 tornados across Louisiana, one had a width of 25 yards and produced a damage path of two miles long. The line of thunderstorms also hit New Orleans causing several Mardi Gras parades to be delayed.
More severe weather reports from this system can be found on the Storm Prediction Center or SPC website located here.
The full article and a video of the damage are found here.
