2 Die, Over 30 Hurt as Tornadoes Hit Baton Rouge Area

A series of tornadoes roared through the South on Thursday, battering downtown Baton Rouge, La., and killing two people and injuring more than 30 in a nearby trailer park and subdivision.

At least four tornadoes struck in the state and others were reported throughout the Gulf Coast states, including two that damaged homes and buildings along the Alabama coast and an unconfirmed twister that injured a park ranger in the Florida Panhandle.

The Louisiana fatalities, a man and a woman in mobile homes, were reported in Grosse Tete, 15 miles west of Baton Rouge. A third person was missing, Iberville Parish Sheriff Freddie Pitre said.

“We went up in a State Police helicopter and viewed it from the air, and for at least 200 yards wide and 8 miles long, everything is just wiped out,” Pitre said.

An emergency center was set up at the Grosse Tete Lions Club to help about 20 families whose homes and trailers were destroyed.

Three dozen people were taken to area hospitals, a spokesman for the Acadian Ambulance service said. Authorities with bloodhounds searched destroyed homes for more victims.

Commuters Abandon Cars

At least two tornadoes passed near the Capitol in Baton Rouge as commuters abandoned their cars for the safety of that building.

One twister formed in Port Allen, directly across the Mississippi River from the Capitol. A second moved east through the downtown area, prompting State Police to close the old Mississippi River Bridge for a short time as the twister passed.

“We saw it across the river in Port Allen, ripping up trees,” said Johnny Breaux, who was on his way to work. “When it started coming across the river toward us, we just got out of the car and got in here.”

Tornadoes also flattened a trailer park in southern Baton Rouge, downing power lines and creating problems for commuters trying to get downtown, said Doug Peters, a State Police spokesman.

“There was also a tornado that touched down in White Castle. There’s heavy property damage reported, but no reports of injuries,” Peters said.

A tornado also touched down in northern Baton Rouge near Metro Airport, reportedly damaging homes near the runways.

Thunderstorm winds gusted to 67 m.p.h. in Biloxi, Miss., and 60 m.p.h. at Mobile, Ala. Heavy rain along the central Gulf Coast closed part of a major highway in Forrest County, Miss.

Ranger Injured

In the Florida Panhandle, a park ranger was cut by flying debris when a suspected tornado demolished a guard shack at the entrance of Ft. Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, authorities said.