Thousands were left without power Wednesday after more than a dozen tornadoes ripped through parts of Texas and Louisiana on Tuesday night.
More than 100,000 residents were left without power after 14 tornadoes tore across southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, CNN reported. In Texas, the Houston suburbs of Pasadena and nearby Deer Park sustained the brunt of the damage with downed trees and power lines leaving 113,000 residents in the dark, NBC Palm Springs reported.
More than a dozen reported tornadoes struck across communities in Texas and Louisiana, damaging many homes and businesses as windows and roofs were blown off buildings — and the threat is expected to persist Wednesday in other southern states. https://t.co/LM0OiY1UCt
— CNN (@CNN) January 25, 2023
Reports of damaged buildings, downed trees and power lines and overturned vehicles on the beltway were plentiful, prompting Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger to claim the damage was the worst he’d seen in 25 years. “For the coming days, we’re going to have our hands full,” he told NBC Palm Springs.
“We’ve seen plenty of damage. We’ve seen buildings that have collapsed,” Pasadena Mayor Jeff Wagner stated.
In nearby Deer Park, the tornado prompted the evacuation of a nursing home. Though the facility was damaged, the Atascocita Fire Department told CNN there were no injuries.
In Louisiana, 16,000 people lost power when a tornado ripped through Beauregard Parish, damaging homes and businesses, according to CNN.
In Pointe Coupee Parish, three people sustained moderate injuries after a tornado flipped an unoccupied mobile home and totaled two others. The Pointe Coupee Sheriff’s Office reported multiple power outages and downed trees blocking roadways throughout the community.
As the powerful storm system moved east, parts of Alabama, Florida and Mississippi were under tornado watch Wednesday morning, CNN reported. Thunderstorms and flash flooding are expected to continue as the storm moves through the Southeast and upward to the Northeast. (RELATED: America Braces For Another Week Of Wild Weather)
“Heavy rains, isolated flash flooding and severe thunderstorms remain possible across portions of the central Gulf coast spreading into the eastern Gulf coast and Southeast [on Wednesday]. Heavy rains are also possible Wednesday into early Thursday across the major urban corridor from Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, [New York City] into Boston,” the National Weather Service reported.