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u.s. news Diabierna 25 Maart 2022

Louisiana digging out after tornadoes plow through homes

(AP) — Louisiana Nation- tornado bore down. decimation, homes appeared
al Guardsmen and other intact.
responders went door-to- There were “no injuries, ca-
door in some areas around sualties or significant damage Collin Arnold, director of
New Orleans on Wednes- reported in Orleans Parish,” homeland security and emer-
day as the region dug out New Orleans Mayor LaToya gency preparedness in New
from overnight tornadoes, Cantrell said Wednesday, but Orleans, described “incred-
with Gov. John Bel Ed- tornadoes touched down in ible devastation” in Arabi,
wards declaring a state of Arabi, just east of the city, where he said a state team in-
emergency and calling the and further east in Lacombe, cluding fire, EMS and police
destruction “devastating.” across Lake Pontchartrain. officers from across Louisi-
ana was doing searches and
Other tornadoes spawned by In Arabi, debris hung from damage assessments.
the same system caused so electrical wires and trees
much damage in Texas that amid destroyed houses. Pow- Louisiana activated 300 Na-
the governor declared a disas- er poles were down, forcing tional Guard personnel to
ter in 16 counties. Buildings emergency workers to walk clear roads and provide sup- downed power lines forced rainfall in the central Ala-
were shredded in Alabama, slowly through darkened port. They joined firefighters emergency workers to walk bama city of Sylacauga over-
where torrential rainfall was neighborhoods checking for and others searching door- slowly through the wreckage. night. The roofs of several
recorded. damage early Wednesday. to-door to make sure no one Michelle Malasovich was homes were damaged in Tox-
had been left behind, said texting relatives from her ey, Alabama, where tornado
Two people were killed and The National Weather Ser- John Rahaim Jr., the parish’s home in Arabi when “all of warnings were issued.
multiple others were injured vice said the Arabi damage homeland security director. a sudden the lights started
as the storm front blew across had been caused by a torna- flickering.” Her husband saw The Mississippi Emergency
the South, upending homes do of at least EF-3 strength, Residents of severely dam- the twister approaching. Management Agency said a
and the lives of the residents meaning it had winds of 158- aged or destroyed homes in dozen counties had damage
in them. The dead included 206 mph (254-332 km/h), Arabi swept up broken glass The couple inside that home to homes and two injuries
a woman north of Dallas and while the Lacombe-area and tried to salvage their be- emerged from the wreck- were reported.
a person in St. Bernard Par- twister was an EF-1, with longings. The community age seeking help to rescue
ish, next to New Orleans. winds as strong as 90 mph next to the city’s Lower 9th their daughter, who was on The vicious weather hit Texas
Authorities didn’t immedi- (145 km/h). Ward was wrecked by Hur- a breathing machine and on Monday, with several tor-
ately describe how they were ricane Katrina in 2005 and hit trapped inside, neighbors and nadoes reported along the In-
killed. Television stations broadcast hard again when Hurricane authorities said. St. Bernard terstate 35 corridor. In Elgin,
live images as the storm dam- Ida swept through last year. Parish President Guy McIn- broken trees lined the rural
Edwards declared an emer- aged an area about 2 miles nis later said the girl was “do- roads and pieces of metal
gency in St. Bernard, Or- (3.2 kilometers) long and Stacey Mancuso’s family had ing fine.” hung from the branches as
leans, Jefferson and St. Tam- a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) just finished repairing dam- residents stepped gingerly
many parishes. After flying wide in St. Bernard Parish, age from Ida, which ripped Gene Katz said he, his wife through the mess.
over the area Wednesday, where Ochsner Health said off the roof and caused exten- and their two children hid in
he walked the streets of the eight patients were treated in sive water damage. Huddling a closet as the tornado pushed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said
tornado-stricken Arabi com- an emergency department. in the laundry room with her their home off its slab and 10 people were injured by
munity near New Orleans, husband, two children and caved in the part where they storms in the Crockett area,
greeting storm victims pick- From the air, the Arabi dogs, they all survived as the took shelter. while more than a dozen
ing through the wreckage of twister’s path of destruction tornado blew away part of were reportedly hurt else-
their homes. reflected in a tight swath of their new roof. As the storm front moved where. The Grayson County
homes that were roofless or eastward, an apparent twister Emergency Management
In front of her roofless home, reduced to splinters, the line Entergy reported that about shredded a metal building Office said a 73-year-old
another woman told Ed- of wreckage interrupted in 3,700 of its customers re- and shattered windows east woman was killed in Sher-
wards that she, her husband spots where the tornado ap- mained without electricity of Mobile Bay. The weather wood Shores, about 60 miles
and their 1-year-old son took parently skipped over build- Wednesday. A strong smell of service reported more than (95 kilometers) north of Dal-
refuge in the bathroom as the ings. Outside that thin line of natural gas was in the air, and 8 inches (20 centimeters) of las, but provided no details.

Takeaways: Supreme Court hearings a venue for culture wars

(AP) — It’s not just Su- the potential to confirm a menting that his panel had Georgia, she explained that eral judge, have provided a
preme Court nominee judge who would help the become “the testing ground prior to the court’s 1963 rul- lengthy record of difficult
Judge Ketanji Brown court look more like Ameri- for conspiracy theories and ing in Gideon v. Wainwright, cases for senators to review,
Jackson who is being scru- ca. culture war theories.” people who were accused of in particular as Republicans
tinized. Senators are also crimes but couldn’t afford have suggested she is soft on
being watched at this Others, led by Sens. Josh Nevertheless, he declared, lawyers were not guaranteed crime. Critics say she brings
milestone moment in his- Hawley and Ted Cruz, quiz “America is ready for the Su- the right to legal representa- too much “empathy” to the
tory considering the first the federal judge about her preme Court glass ceiling to tion. cases.
Black woman for the high views on issues of race and finally shatter.”
court. crime, amplifying election “The protections of the Sixth Democrats counter that Jack-
year grievances and a back- Here are some takeaways Amendment, the right to son, who comes from a fam-
Some senators are overcome lash over changing culture. from Day Three of the week- trial, includes the right to ily with police officers, is
with “joy,” as Cory Booker long confirmation hearings. appointed counsel, so that backed by the Fraternal Or-
of New Jersey described the Jackson appeared for a third everybody who is accused of der of Police, the large law
swell of emotion he felt over day before the Senate Judi- Jackson is the first federal criminal behavior now has enforcement organization.
ciary Committee for grueling public defender to be nomi- the right to an attorney,” she
confirmation hearings that nated to the Supreme Court, said. Jackson’s record is being
are providing a vivid portrait and she related her views scrutinized much the way the
of the nation’s promise, but about the importance of the “And that’s very important.” work of the first Black nomi-
also its enduring racial chal- work to ensure fair trials for nee to the court, Thurgood
lenges. all Americans. Jackson’s efforts represent- Marshall, the storied civil
ing those accused of crimes, rights attorney, was probed
Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, Under questions from Dem- alongside the sentences for representing criminal de-
D-Ill, opened Wednesday la- ocratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of she handed down as a fed- fendants a half a century ago.