Louisiana twisters injure three
A series of tornadoes ripped across south Louisiana Sunday morning, including one that tore through downtown Ville Platte in Evangeline Parish.
Three injuries were reported. Published accounts say 22,000 Ville Platte area customers may be without power for days. Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine declared a curfew and a local state of emergency.
Gov. John Bel Edwards also promised a state emergency declaration as he toured the strike zone within hours of the tornado Sunday.
The Ville Platte tornado was rated as an EF-1 twister with winds of 95 mph.
Another confirmed tornado, an EF-0 twister , touched down in nearby Mamou.
Numerous trees were toppled and utility poles snapped in Ville Platte.
The report says Louisiana State Police are sending troopers to assist police and sheriff’s deputies with recovery efforts in the community.
More suspected tornadoes touched down in Allen, Beauregard and St. Helena parishes, the Weather Channel reported. Acadia, Iberia and St. Landry parishes also sustained storm damage.
In east St. Mary, about 1.8 inches of rain fell during the height of the storm just before 10 a.m. Sunday. Gusts to 29 mph were recorded at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport in Patterson.
Also Sunday, four tornadoes struck parts of West Texas in severe weather that damaged some homes and businesses.
The National Weather Service on Sunday reported two tornadoes hit parts of San Angelo a day earlier. Another twister was reported Saturday in Ballinger. A fourth tornado struck Abilene.
Meteorologist Terry Huber in San Angelo said Sunday that officials had no reports of anyone hurt in twisters from the same storm system.
Huber estimated winds topping 111 mph hit San Angelo, damaging homes and businesses and downing power lines. San Angelo police tweeted that Bradford Elementary School would be closed Monday due to no power.
Huber says a damage survey team was in Abilene on Sunday. Emergency personnel in Ballinger, 50 miles (80.46 kilometers) southwest of Abilene, worked Sunday to clear debris.