Search and rescue crews combed through rubble overnight in New Orleans after a tornado blasted the east side, killing at least one person, destroying homes and knocking down power lines.
A dark funnel cloud touched down at 7:30 p.m. local time (00:30 GMT) on Tuesday (March 22), flattening buildings and turning over vehicles in the Arabi area of St. Bernard Parish.
Local resident John Jackson said he was driving when the tornado hit, but his family was at home.
“They said they actually felt the house being sucked, like, just this suction throughout the house, and their ears popped,” Jackson said. “My five chihuahuas were going crazy.”
St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann said several people were injured as well as the one death.
The Washington Post, citing a spokesman for St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis, said the fatality was a 26-year-old man whom first responders found outside his home.
(Production: Kathleen Flynn, Vanessa Johnston)