Five Die and Dozens Hurt as Tornadoes Ravage South

Tornadoes ripped through two small towns in Louisiana and Florida on Thursday, destroying more than 30 homes and killing five people. Tornadoes, rain and high winds from thunderstorms also caused damage in parts of Mississippi and Alabama.

One twister smashed into the Florida Panhandle town of East Point early Thursday night, destroying several homes. A mother, her daughter and grandson were killed in one home, officials said.

The violent weather began developing along the Gulf Coast on Wednesday, when a man who sought shelter in a metal-roofed shed near Stapleto, Ala., was killed by lightning.

Tornadoes skipped across several Louisiana parishes early Thursday.

One twister struck the small town of Grosse Tete, La., destroying at least 25 residences and injuring about two dozen people, in addition to the man and woman killed, authorities said.

‘This Is Devastating’

“We can’t imagine how more aren’t dead,” Willie Hurdle, a member of the Iberville Parish Police Jury, said of the town of 790 people. “This is devastating. There’s about 20 houses that aren’t even here any more.”

No serious injuries were reported 15 miles away in Baton Rouge, where Fire Chief Ron Spillman said at least four twisters touched down 19 times, destroying or damaging almost 70 mobile homes and 25 to 30 houses.

Pieces of mobile homes were strewn in tree tops in Grosse Tete. About 100 people were evacuated and were put up in emergency shelters, Hurdle said. The storm left the town without electricity, natural gas, water and most telephone service.

Over a two-hour period, tornadoes also were reported in the parishes of West Baton Rouge, St. Helena, Livingston and Tangipahoa. The early morning tornadoes in southeastern Louisiana followed a night of violent weather in the western and central part of the state in which several homes were destroyed or damaged late Wednesday, but no serious injuries were reported.

A line of thunderstorms that pounded the Florida Panhandle produced several tornadoes. One ripped through East Point, about 85 miles southeast of Tallahassee.

Three houses and three mobile homes were destroyed and two businesses heavily damaged, Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies said. The three people killed were a 16-year-old boy, his mother, 33, and his grandmother, 51.

A U.S. park ranger suffered a broken arm and cuts Thursday when a tornado destroyed the entrance station at the Ft. Pickens section of the Gulf Islands National Seashore on the western Florida Panhandle. She was thrown 10 to 15 yards and only the concrete foundation of the station was left, officials said.