At least 3,200 Entergy Louisiana customers lost power and some buildings were damaged when a tornado struck Paradis on Saturday afternoon.
Roofing materials were ripped from their anchors between Cadow and Bayou Gauche roads, and tree limbs and power lines were downed on the west bank of St. Charles Parish. Westbound U.S. 90 was closed to tall vehicles because of sagging power lines.
Celeste Matherne of Paradis first detected bad weather when she and her husband looked outside their house and saw the color of the sky didn’t “look right.” The sight of kiddie pools flying through the air persuaded them to take shelter inside.
“My husband grabbed my littlest, and we all ran,” she said.
After the storm passed, she and her family fired up their emergency generator and took stock. Luckily, she said, the tornado lasted no more than 40 seconds.
“We just have a play set that’s down,” she said, adding that the tornado was “felt” more than “seen.”
“The pressure dropped,” she said. “I felt it in my ears.”
The National Weather Service issued the first tornado warning for a twister moving northeasterly from Paradis toward Hahnville at 30 mph. Parts of Interstate 10 and Interstate 310 were in its extended path.
A second warning came of tornado potential across Lake Pontchartrain heading toward Bush, Sun, Bogalusa and Varnado. Forecasters warned people near the tornado's path to be aware of flying debris that might damage mobile homes, roofs, windows and vehicles.