Severe Weather, and Potentially Tornadoes, Headed for Gulf Coast States
Parts of Louisiana were under a tornado warning on Wednesday morning, as waves of intense weather moved east, bringing severe weather to the New Orleans area and other parts of the central Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service said.
Flooding started to inundate areas in east Texas early on Wednesday, and forecasters warned that more than seven million people across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama could experience extreme weather. They warned that the threats included flooding, rain, hail, intense damaging wind gusts over 75 miles per hour and even tornadoes, some of which may be strong.
Not long after dawn, the weather in the region began to deteriorate. The Weather Service issued more than a dozen tornado warnings and watches that covered towns from Texas to Mississippi.
One of the more significant bulletins was a tornado watch issued for the southeastern portion of Louisiana north to Columbus, Miss., until the early afternoon.
Schools were closed and roads were shut down on Wednesday through the city of Kirbyville in Jasper County, Tx., in the east of the state. The sheriff’s office said its deputies, local fire departments and emergency authorities were deployed for rescue efforts in the area around the city of more than 2,000.