6 Dead After Tornadoes Devastate Louisiana, Oklahoma And Texas

At least six people were killed when tornadoes devastated several areas in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana starting from Wednesday (April 23) evening up until Thursday (April 24).

According to the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) there were initial reports of around 26 tornadoes throughout the entire Wednesday across the Southern Plains with the number increasing as the severe weather conditions move up to Mississippi on Thursday (April 24).

Fox senior meteorologist Janice Dean said on “Fox & Friends” that they had over two dozenreports of tornadoes and one of them ripped through Oklahoma the night before.

"It's not over yet," Dean added. "We're going to see the potential for strong storms, including deadly tornadoes, the risk for deadly tornadoes across portions of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, through Georgia and Florida, and then the Carolinas."

Among those who died was a trailer factory worker who was killed 4:30 PM on Wednesday (April 23) in Marshall County, Southern Oklahoma when a tornado hit Madill near the Red River.

An Associated Press article reported that Marshall County Emergency Management Director Robert Chaney said that the victim’s body was found about one-fourth of a mile from J&I Manufacturing which is a trailer factory located outside town where a twister reportedly struck and caused major damage just as the factory’s employees were leaving for the day.

A video from Prescott Bishop showed a tornado as it struck Madill, Oklahoma while reports of a tornado flipping a semi-truck around Interstate 35 south of Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma, circulated.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the Polk County Emergency Management System reported in a statement that at least three people died when a tornado struck near Onalaska, 75 miles north of Houston, around 6 PM, Fox News reported.

Carrie Miller, a Polk County spokeswoman for Judge Sydney Murphy said that the storm moved east through Seven Oaks and caused a lot of damage to several houses and other structures.

Polk County resident Charles Stephens described the aftermath of the storm to the Houston Chronicle as a “lot of devastation” and added that one individual in his neighborhood was found dead in the water and two others, including a boy, were injured.

Around 50 homes were destroyed amid the major structural damage in the area and residents were trapped, which led to fire departments being deployed from neighboring counties.

Onalaska homes similarly suffered much damage and several trees were uprooted around the area.

Texas Governor Greg Abott said in a statement that his office was "working with local officials to provide immediate support to the areas devastated by this tornado. The state has already deployed response teams and medical resources to help Texans in need and to provide assistance to these communities."

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, a woman was found dead on bridge in Woodworth, 15 miles south of Alexandria, due to extreme weather conditions.

DeSoto Parish Sheriff Jayson Richardson told The Shreveport Times about the death of a Louisiana man whom a witness found trying to get a trash can from the water near drainage before he lost his footing and was swept away by the flood.

“There was some pretty extreme flooding here in Mansfield. Water like I’ve not seen in many, many years, if ever,” the sheriff said. “Basically the water rose really fast and we had to rescue some people out of homes. I think we had about 20 or so homes that people were flooded in.”

The Alexandria campus of the Louisiana State University also suffered some damage including some damages on the DeWitt Livestock building, the flipping over of a camper and power outage; no injuries or deaths were reported among students and faculty.

Around 100,000 power customers from Texas to Mississippi were without power on Thursday (April 24) as the storms moved across the said areas.

Dean said that the storms that caused much damage overnight are making its way through Mississippi on Thursday towards Alabama bringing with them “large hail, damaging winds and doppler-radar indicated tornadoes.”

According to forecast, the storms would move towards the north and the east throughout the day and would reach Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas by nightfall.

"This is going to be an ongoing situation throughout the next 12 to 18 hours, certainly watches and warnings will be posted throughout the day today across the Southeast in towards the Mid-Atlantic including the Carolinas later today," Dean said.