Storms bring floods, damaging winds and at least one death in states across southern U.S.
>> Strong storms flooded New Orleans streets and demolished buildings in one of the city's suburbs Wednesday, part of a severe weather system that pounded communities across much of the South, killing one in Mississippi.
In Slidell, Louisiana, northeast of New Orleans, multiple people were injured and first responders were scouring neighborhoods after reports of a morning tornado strike.
Robin Marquez was at work, in a two-story building in Slidell when the sky suddenly darkened and she could see a cylindric funnel quickly approaching.
“Tornado,” she screamed, hoping other employees would heed her warning.
She and seven others huddled in her office, away from windows as wind gusts imitated the sounds of a train above them, the lights flickered and they could feel “the building being torn apart” around
them.
Police video shows roofs torn off of homes and apartments, tree limbs littering the streets and flooded yards that resembled Louisiana swamps. Outside a McDonald's restaurant, a car was on its side, power poles leaned toward the ground and large pieces of the McDonald's Golden Arches sign were strewn about.
First responders were able to remove people trapped inside a heavily damaged apartment building,
police said.
After several hours of steady, often heavy rain, New Orleans suspended bus service as water collected in streets and flooded highway underpasses. An estimated 8 inches of rain was reported to have fallen in parts of the city, the latest challenge to the city's antiquated street drainage system.
In Mississippi, one person was killed and one was injured by severe weather that pounded the state
Tuesday night and Wednesday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said. The agency also said 72 homes were damaged. The death and most of the property damage occurred in Scott County, east of the capital city of Jackson.
Heavy rain, tornadoes, hail and damaging wind gusts were all possible across the Gulf Coast and the Deep South on Wednesday, according to meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook with the NWS Weather Prediction Center.
In Texas, several people were rescued from homes and vehicles early Wednesday morning when flooding inundated parts of Jasper County, near the Louisiana line, authorities said.
In the Houston suburb of Katy, strong thunderstorms that passed through the area around 2 a.m. Wednesday collapsed part of the roof of a Firestone repair shop. Storms also damaged businesses and cars in a nearby strip mall, including sending a large air conditioning unit that had been on the roof crashing to the parking lot, officials said.