EF2 tornadoes part of deadly storms that hit Louisiana

A line of storms that moved across Louisiana Monday afternoon left a trail of destruction from Lake Charles to Lafayette. The severe weather was part of a larger storm system that affected towns from Texas to Florida.

Three people were killed by the storms, the Louisiana Department of Health said Tuesday afternoon.

The National Weather Service (NWS) initially confirmed Tuesday afternoon that an EF3 tornado hit the town of Sulphur, just west of Lake Charles, Louisiana, but the confirmation was later downgraded to an EF2.

The twister touched down north of Orphan Village Road in Sulphur, then tracked southeast, damaging homes and businesses, the NWS statement said.

Two tornado tracks were confimed near Lake Charles, Louisiana from the May 14, 2024 storms. One EF2 tracked through Sulphur, and an EF1 twister traveled from Westlake into downtown Lake Charles.

On East Napoleon St., two warehouses were destroyed by the tornado. A gas station awning and a strip mall were damaged on North Cities Service Highway. In the Maplewood community, several houses were damaged, with trees uprooted or snapped and parts of roofs blown off. The last reported damage was on Bayou Dinde Pass, where several trees were snapped. Along the path, trees and power lines were downed.

An EF1 tornado was also confirmed to have struck the town of Westlake, between Sulphur and Lake Charles. The twister then traveled into the downtown Lake Charles area, damaging homes and businesses.

In Cecilia, 12 miles northeast of Layfayette, another person was killed by what the NWS confirmed as an EF2 tornado. Videos on social media from Monday afternoon showed damaged homes and flipped RV trailers in the town.

In addition to the death in Cecilia, a pregnant woman and her unborn baby were killed and two others were injured when a tree fell onto their mobile home in Port Allen, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River to the west of Baton Rouge during a severe thunderstorm.

According to PowerOutage.US, 50,000 customers were without power in Louisiana Tuesday afternoon, down from a maximum of 140,000 Monday evening. Wind gusts over 70 mph were reported elsewhere in Louisiana and Florida.

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