Calm returns after surprise storms

Sunny and warm weather on Sunday left little evidence that an unanticipated storm that spawned at least one confirmed tornado had rolled through the Tri-parish region on Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service confirmed on Monday that a tornado had touched down at Schriever in Terrebonne Parish.

“The storm we had that was just north of Schriever was confirmed as a weak tornado approximately one half mile long and 30 yards wide,” NWS forecaster Bob Wagner said on Monday. “Several houses had roof damage, windows blown in, one mobile home was heavily damaged, large tree limbs snapped and a service van flipped over and rolled 20 feet.”

Wagner said that one mile south of Thibodaux a trailer was destroyed and trees were damaged in Lafourche Parish. Shingles were blown off a roof and a truck was overturned.

“I’m sure it was the same parent storm because it was basically one line of storms that had a couple of spin ups on it. Those were the two main reports in the area,” Wagner said.

A suspected tornado at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport was not confirmed by the NWS. “I haven’t made a full pass,” airport director David Slayter said.

There were no reported storm related injuries in Terrebonne, Lafourche or St. Mary parishes.

Earlier in the day a tornado system caused heavy damage in southwestern Louisiana before it crossed the state. High rotating winds ripped through Rayne, where 150 homes were damaged or destroyed. The NWS estimated winds had reached 135 mph.

The Associated Press reported that a 21-year-old woman was killed when an oak tree crushed her home. She had been trying to protect her 15-month-old son during the storm. Her son, brother and mother all survived.

“This looks like the beginning of a hurricane,” said one shopper at Rouses Market on St. Charles Street in Houma as cloudy skies suddenly opened with a downpour and high winds.

The storm cell that passed through coastal states before eventually shifting northeast left an estimated 1,500 residents, mostly in southwestern Louisiana, homeless. In all 20 states from the Gulf of Mexico to New York were impacted by the same storm system.