Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry tours storm damage in St. Francisville

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Storms rolled through the Baton Rouge area on Wednesday, April 10, leaving damage in their wake.

An EF-1 tornado hit St. Francisville, prompting cleanup efforts days after it hit. Some residents in St. Francisville described what they heard during the storm, saying the weather was as loud as a lion.

On Monday, Gov. Jeff Landry toured the damage in West Feliciana Parish. He is also going to the Slidell Municipal Airport and tour storm damage there after visiting St. Francisville.

After the visit to the parish, he announced his plan to declare a state of emergency to bring more money to help with recovery.

“I want to sincerely thank the linemen, first responders, local officials, faith-based organizations, and all relief organizations who have stepped up to assist those impacted by these storms,” said Landry in a press release. “It was beneficial to assess the damage firsthand today and talk with local officials on the ground. As we begin the road to recovery, I want Louisianans to know that we will be with you every step of the way. The state of Louisiana is known for its resiliency, and this recovery process will be no different.”

The sheriff of West Feliciana Parish Brian Spillman talked about damages.

“It [tornado] went through the woods, did a lot of vegetated damage, as the governor said. But as far as homes, the 30 homes that we think were impacted, most of them had trees on them,” said Spillman.

Pointe Coupee Parish sheriff, Louisiana AG assess tornado damage, pass out resources

Gov. Landry also said the parish will create an after-action review plan by the end of the week.

“We have a great indication of feedback from local officials as to how this new process is working and we’ll make those adjustments because we know, come June 1, we’ll have hurricane season among us and I’m praying real hard that we don’t have any,” Landry said.

DEMCO reported more than 100 broken poles after the tornado hit St. Francisville on Wednesday.

According to the Entergy outage map, there are no customers without power in West Feliciana Parish on Monday, April 15.

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