A day after a swarm of tornadoes struck Texas, a second round of twisters erupted Tuesday afternoon and evening. Parts of New Orleans were struck by an intense EF3 tornado, tied for the strongest on record in the city.
That twister passed through the Lower 9th Ward and Arabi. At least one person has been reported killed in St. Bernard Parish, where damage is extensive.
Numerous tornadoes were also confirmed across Texas and Oklahoma on Monday. A death was reported in Sherwood Shores to the north of Dallas near the Red River.
Posted March 21. Last updated March 24, 7:00 a.m. CDT.
Tornado watches remained in effect Wednesday as the storm system marches east. The tornado threat continues to shift across the Southeast through today. Parts of the Southeast from Florida to Virginia are one area of focus, with another area of higher risk in and around the Ohio Valley. The threat is comparatively lower than the two previous days.
Tornadoes were just one of numerous weather types from this potent springtime storm. In the Texas panhandle and into Kansas, blizzard warnings were in effect Monday.
About 80 unfiltered reports of tornadoes have come in thus far over the course of two days, although there may be multiple reports for one tornado. Monday ended up one of the most tornado warned days in recent history for Texas. We’ve seen confirmation of about two dozen tornadoes as of Wednesday morning.
Much of Tuesday’s tornado activity was focused along a broken line of storms passing through Mississippi. During the evening, several supercells developed around New Orleans and also in the Birmingham, Alabama, region.
In New Orleans, more than 16,000 were without power Tuesday night. Major damage — including destroyed homes — occurred along parts of the tornado’s path, particularly in Arabi, where the National Weather Service found “at least” EF3 damage. EF3 is fourth most powerful on a scale of zero to five.
The tornadoes Tuesday came after late-day supercell clusters formed near Austin Monday to kick off the event. There were others northwest of Dallas off and toward the Red River, as well. Additional destructive tornadoes continued into Monday night across eastern Texas.
One storm that began near San Antonio passed through parts of College Station. There were at least intermittent tornado confirmations along a 250-mile-long path.
A particularly large and ominous tornado was spotted in Taylor, Texas, just to the northeast of Austin early Monday evening. It was one of a number of tornadoes from the supercell cluster in the area.
Oklahoma also saw its first tornado(es) of 2022. Significant damage was noted near the town of Kingston.
In addition to the two known deaths from this outbreak series, dozens of injuries have been noted. Multiple areas of damage across several states will be assessed in coming days.
This is a developing story. Ian Livingston created this article. Katie Wheatley contributed.
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