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A deadly tornado-spawning storm system swept across the Gulf Coast on Monday and Tuesday, killing at least three people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in nine parishes as a result of the severe weather on Feb. 23.
More than 100 structures were reported destroyed and two persons killed by a tornado that tore through Convent, La., about 50 miles west of New Orleans. Accuweather reported that the Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent, in St. James Parish, was particularly hard hit.
The Associated Press reported that 31 people in Convent were taken to area hospitals and seven of them were in critical condition.
Edwards toured the area on Tuesday.
“I ask all Louisianans to pray for the victims of the terrible storms that touched down in Louisiana today and especially at the Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent,” Edwards said in a statement released by his office. “And let us not forget their families and the first responders working so tirelessly tonight to save lives. We will do all that we can to help restore the families, businesses and communities destroyed by this tragedy.”
At least seven tornadoes hit southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service.
Edwards declared a state of emergency in the following parishes:
The storms were part of the same system that left thousands of people in South Texas without power, according to the Associated Press. Hail the size of golf balls damaged buildings, but no one was hurt after the bad weather Monday night, according to the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office.
Schools in the town of Brackettville, 30 miles east of Del Rio, were closed Tuesday after school buildings were damaged in the storms.
A Houston ISD bus flipped while driving on a rain-slick road, leaving the driver slightly hurt. No children were aboard, according to the AP.