Winter storms - Deadly Louisiana tornadoes damage hospital, trap people as blizzard heads across Plains
Tracking the huge winter storm as it moves across the US as it happened
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A destructive storm ripping across the US spawned tornadoes that killed a young boy and his mother in northern Louisiana threatened the South with more severe weather on Wednesday. Dozens have been injured in the state.
Further tornado warnings were issued this morning for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, where mobile homes at a park in Sharkey County were reduced to piles of shredded debris. A tornado watch was put into effect in parts of Alabama.
To the north, the huge storm system delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and was expected to push more snow and ice into Appalachia and New England as the week progresses.
It began by dumping heavy snow in the Sierra Nevadas at the start of the week before dumping as much as two feet of snow in South Dakota and Nebraska, where strong winds made it impossible to see outside.
Winter storm warnings, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service for an area extending to the upper Midwest, northern Great Lakes, and parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Destructive winter storm tracks across US
A destructive winter storm marched across the United States on Wednesday, delivering blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains hours after tornadoes touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Tornadoes first reported in Texas on Tuesday
Five tornadoes were confirmed across north Texas as of Tuesday afternoon based on video and eyewitness reports, but potentially a dozen may have occurred, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas, reported.
Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged by the line of thunderstorms, and several people were injured in the suburbs and counties stretching north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports were delayed, and over 100 were canceled, according to the tracking service FlightAware.
Young boy and mother killed in northern Louisiana
A young boy and his mother were killed when a tornado touched down in northern Louisiana.
The boy was found dead in a wooded area more than a half-mile from his home in the Keithville area, where a violent storm struck overnight just south of Shreveport, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said. The child’s mother was later found dead around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday one street over from her home, he said.
The child’s father reported them missing from their home, which the sheriff said was demolished in the storm.
“We couldn’t even find the house that he was describing with the address. Everything was gone,” Prator told Shreveport TV station KSLA.
Lousie Boyle has the full story:
Boy and mother killed after tornadoes rip through Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma
The child’s body was discovered in a wooded area after his home was destroyed
Trail of destruction across Louisiana as south braces for more
In Farmerville, Louisiana, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the east of Keithville, about 20 people were taken to a hospital, some with critical injuries, after a tornado caused major damage to mobile homes and an apartment complex, the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office told Monroe TV station KNOE.
The destructive storm continued its path across the US on Wednesday where more severe weather was expected in the South, and potentially additional tornadoes along the central Gulf Coast, including New Orleans and southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Blizzard conditions across Great Plains
Meanwhile, heavy snow of up to two feet deep in places combined with blizzard conditions will create difficult-to-impossible travel across the north and central High Plains.
A wintry mix, including freezing rain, will spread into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Thursday.
Severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes from Louisiana to Florida panhandle
There is concern that further severe weather could strike a swathe of the South on Wednesday, stretching from Lake Charles in Louisiana across to Tallahassee, Florida.
Much of that area is under a severe thunderstorm watch with a moderate to high threat of tornadoes based on the Tornado Condition Index.
Winter storm brings tornadoes, blizzards to US
A destructive winter storm marched across the United States on Wednesday, delivering blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains hours after tornadoes touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Winter US storm brings warnings of more tornadoes, blizzards
A destructive winter storm is marching across the United States
In pictures: Tornado damage
People trapped in damaged homes in New Iberia, Louisiana
Facebook posts from the New Iberia Police Department report that at least two tornadoes have touched down in the Louisiana city.
Several homes have been damaged and people are trapped. A rescue effort is underway.
The hospital was also reportedly damaged.
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