Tornado Damages Residences,Churches, Schools
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Residents in the Grand Prairie area northwest of the Town of Washington are beginning to clean up damages from a tightly-packed tornado which the National Weather Service indicated quickly struck the rural area early Monday morning with tightly-packed winds estimated at 120 miles-per-hour.
NWS officials rated the tornado as an EF2, which roared through the community for about four minutes, cutting a destructive path that tore the roofs of St.Peter Catholic Church buildings as well as private residences, beginning at 4:21 am.
No injuries or fatalities associated with the tornadic activity was reported.
Strong winds associated with the tornado also affected the schools in the Grand Prairie,LeBeau, and Palmetto areas creating power outages which canceled Monday classes.
All three campuses are scheduled to reopen on Tuesday after school officials said on Monday that power has been restored to buildings.
The tornado, according to an official NWS bulletin obtained by St. Landry Now.com, measured about 250 yards wide and traveled about 1.82 miles beginning six miles northwest of Washington.
Strong winds began at the Church and ripped away a portion of two buildings that are used by parishioners for meetings and functions.
The tornado route then continued at the intersections of La. 363 and 748, knocking down trees and moving towards residences.
Once resident reported that the entire roof of his home was removed by the tornado, as well as adjoining outbuildings. There was also extensive mobile home roof and structure destruction at another location.
Still racing onward at ground level, the tornado moved along Old Hickory Road before lifting, the NWS report said.
