Tornado rips across East Houma street

A possible small tornado struck several homes on Melvin Court off Bayou Dularge Road in East Houma last Wednesday afternoon, blowing wood and metal hundreds of feet away and damaging three roofs.

The winds also shoved the rear of a camper into a pickup truck.

Chief Quint Liner of the Bayou Dularge Volunteer Fire Department said he believes one twister touched down at 3:30 p.m., traveling northwest to southeast, though the damage could have been caused by heavy winds.

Blue tarps were placed on the roofs receiving damage, Liner said.

Assistant Fire Chief Caroll Hebert, who lives nearby, said hail began to fall in the area and he could hear wind and rain. A report then came through on his radio.

“I knew something would happen,” he said.

Andrew Thibodeaux was working on his pickup truck under an open shed outside his residence on Melvin Court when drizzle began to fall.

“Then the wind blew hard,” he said. “It was quick. It lasted a minute.”

The back of a camper next to the pickup swung into the truck. The front of the camper was anchored.

Michelle Liner’s house on Melvin Court had a pile of twisted corrugated metal deposited next to her porch from a shed destroyed by the winds a few hundred feet west.

She also said a large piece of wood from the shed was sent hurtling several hundred yards toward Bayou Dularge Road.

Personnel from South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association arrived on Melvin Court to straighten three utility poles bent by the high winds, said one worker.

Andrew Thibodeaux eyes damage to a trailer caused by a tornado on Melvin Court. * Photo by CHRIS SCARNATI