re: Paincourtville tornado upgraded to an EF 3 with 140 mph winds

It looks like this tornado lifted off the ground just after that damage on Dagg St. I drove down Hwy 70 and couldn't find anywhere that it crossed the road, which would be required for where it hit in Convent.

How many people lost their lives in this storm? I know originally they were saying only 2. Is that still the case?

quote:

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What about Leblanc brothers right across hwy 1?

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Had I-beams wrapped around cement trucks when I went to Pierre Part yesterday

.TORNADO #7 - ASSUMPTION AND ST. JAMES PARISHES...

RATING: EF-3
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 140 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 21 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 350 YARDS
FATALITIES: 2
INJURIES: APPROX 75
START DATE: FEB 23 2016
START TIME: 321 PM CST
START LOCATION: 2 SW PAINCOURTVILLE
|START LAT/LON: 29.9903 / -91.0794

END DATE: FEB 23 2016
END TIME: 342 PM CST
END LOCATION: 8 NE CONVENT
END LAT/LON: 30.1250 / -90.7697

SURVEY SUMMARY:
A STRONG TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST SOUTHWEST OF PAINCOURTVILLE,
ASSUMPTION PARISH AND MOVED NORTHEAST FOR 12 MILES AND CROSSED THE
MS RIVER INTO ST JAMES PARISH. THE STRONG TORNADO CONTINUED
NORTHEAST FOR ANOTHER 8 MILES, WITH THE LAST VISIBLE DAMAGE ON
AIRLINE HIGHWAY ABOUT 7 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF CONVENT.
IN
ASSUMPTION PARISH - SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS NOTED TO RESIDENTIAL AND
BUSINESS STRUCTURES IN THE PAINCOURTVILLE AREA IN THE VICINITY OF
THE JUNCTION OF LA HIGHWAY 1/ LA 308/ LA 70. EF2 SCALE DAMAGE WAS
NOTED IN THIS AREA WITH CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO SMALL TWO STORY
APARTMENT BUILDING, HARDWARE STORE AND COMMERCIAL BUSINESS. A
TRACTOR TRAILER WAS ALSO OVERTURNED AT A COMMERCIAL BUSINESS IN THIS
AREA. THE TORNADO TRACKED NORTHEAST ALONG LA 1/LA 308 CAUSING MAJOR
DAMAGE TO AN AREA OF SMALL FRAME HOUSES AND MOBILE HOMES, WITH MOST
DAMAGE IN THE EF1 AREA. FURTHER TO NORTHEAST, THE 2ND FLOOR OF WELL-
CONSTRUCTED BRICK STRUCTURE WAS NEARLY REMOVED. A LOW END EF3 SCALE
RATING OF 140MPH WAS ASSIGNED TO THIS DAMAGE. THE RESIDENTS OF THIS
STRUCTURE HAD TAKEN SHELTER IN THE LOWEST FLOOR OF AN INTERIOR AREA
AND WERE NOT INJURED.

FURTHER NORTHEAST , TWO SMALL FRAME HOMES ON
PIERS WERE SWEPT OFF THEIR FOUNDATION AND DESTROYED. NONE OF THE
OCCUPANTS WERE AT EITHER OF THESE RESIDENCES AT THE TIME. THE
TORNADO CONTINUED TO TRAVEL NORTHEAST CROSSING THE MS RIVER WITH
CONSIDERABLE TREE DAMAGE IN THE BATTURE AREA OF THE RIVER. OVERALL,
ASSUMPTION PARISH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTED THE FOLLOWING
DAMAGE...45 STRUCTURES DESTROYED OR NOT SALVAGEABLE...22 STRUCTURES
MAJOR DAMAGE, 22 STRUCTURES MODERATE DAMAGE,

AFTER CROSSING THE MS
RIVER THE DAMAGE PATH WAS QUITE WIDE AT THIS POINT AND MOVED THROUGH
THE SUGAR HILL RV PARK WHERE NUMEROUS TRAVEL TRAILERS WERE TOSSED
AND DESTROYED. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED IN THIS
AREA, WITH A DAMAGE WIDTH OF 350 YARDS. TWO FATALITIES OCCURRED AT
THE RV PARK, 31 WERE TRANSPORTED TO MEDICAL FACILITIES, WITH 7 OF
THOSE LISTED IN CRITICAL CONDITIONS ON ARRIVAL. ANOTHER 25 TO 50
WERE INJURED, AND TREATED AT THE SCENE OR SELF TRANSPORTED TO
MEDICAL CARE. AN EF SCALE RATING OF AN UPPER END EF2 WAS ASSIGNED
TO THIS AREA WITH MAX WIND OF 125 MPH.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO
TRACK NORTHEAST AND CROSSED LA HIGHWAY 3125 WITH TREES SNAPPED AND
UPROOTED IN A 200 YARD PATH. A RESIDENCE SUFFERED MINOR PROPERTY
DAMAGE. THE TORNADO WEAKENED AS IT CROSSED US HIGHWAY 61 WITH TREE
LIMBS SNAPPED AND A FEW TREES UPROOTED IN A MORE NARROW PATH. NO
DAMAGE TO TREES WAS NOTED ALONG INTERSTATE 10 TO THE NORTHEAST.
RADAR ALSO INDICATED THAT THE PARENT MESOCYCLONE CIRCULATION
WEAKENED CONSIDERABLE IN THE VICINITY OF US 61 OR AIRLINE HIGHWAY.
ST JAMES PARISH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PRELIMINARILY REPORTED 25 TO 50
HOMES WERE TOTAL LOSSES AND PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX HAD MAJOR DAMAGE.



For SE Louisiana not from a tropical system, this was an extremely rare event

Kudos to the NWS for an accurate forecast and the local TV meteorologists and public officials for taking the threat seriously. 13 tornadoes with 1 EF3 and 2 EF2s with only 2 fatalities.

LINK

Security cam footage of tornado ripping up the hardware store in Paincourtville.



That Fedex driver

isn't this the hardware store?

That was it.