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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 8 February
Tornadoes touch down, wreak havoc in Louisiana

ters of her home in New Or-
leans East is now collapsed.
Brown said she was at work
when she got a weather
alert on her phone. She
looked at a weather map
and realized it was her
neighborhood, then drove
home to check. On the
way, her brother called
and said, “Sister, your
house is gone.”
She didn’t believe it.
“I lived in between two
blighted properties. One
of those would have been
gone before my house,”
she said. “It wasn’t real until
I walked up. I can see into
my living room. I can see
into my front bedroom. It’s
just gone. Like the movie
Twister.”
Luckily her 2-year-old son
Claire White sits in a chair and talks on the phone next to her husband Roy White and dog “JD”
across the street from their destroyed home after a tornado tore through the eastern neighbor- and three dogs have sur-
hood in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. vived, and her home was
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) insured. q
KEVIN McGILL flipped a food truck up-
Associated Press side-down. It left a couch
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hours resting improbably on a
after a tornado struck east- pile of debris in the middle
ern New Orleans on Tues- of a road, and trapped a
day, hatchet-wielding truck driver as power lines
firefighters walked up and wrapped around his cab.
down the debris-strewn The wall of severe weather
Chef Menteur Highway, also delivered heavy rain
looking for anyone missing and hail to Mississippi and
or trapped. Alabama. The national
“I’m homeless now,” said Storm Prediction Center in
Malcolm Ballard, 65, out- Norman, Oklahoma, said
side the heavily damaged 2.7 million people were at
Royal Palms Motel. risk across the region.
Inside, his room was ran- Press Secretary Sean Spic-
sacked; the furniture and er said the White House
carpet soaked by rain that was monitoring the severe
poured in after the storm weather, and President
blew open the door and Donald Trump would be
broke the windows. reaching out to local and
At least two other con- state officials throughout
firmed tornadoes touched the day.
down in southern Louisi- Kevin Ballard, 56, came to
ana, wiping houses from check on his older brother
their foundations, down- at the damaged motel,
ing power lines and leav- but his own injuries turned
ing 10,000 homes without out to be worse. He was at
electricity before moving an auto repair shop when
across the Deep South. the apparent tornado
Dozens of injuries were re- hit, collapsing the shop
ported, but no fatalities. around him. He had bruises
New Orleans Mayor Mitch and cuts on the back of his
Landrieu said at least two head and neck.
of the injured were serious- “I was standing in front of
ly hurt. Louisiana Gov. John the building at first and
Bel Edwards viewed the I seen something black,
damage during an aerial twisting,” Kevin Ballard
tour and declared a state said. “Tires and everything
of emergency. fell on the back of my neck
The storm flipped over cars, and head.”
tore roofs off homes, ripped Yoshekia Brown lost every-
through a gas station can- thing to Hurricane Katrina
opy, broke tall power poles in 2005. Now she’s lost ev-
off their foundations and erything again: Three-quar-