Storms in Louisiana on Thursday killed at least one person and left homes and other buildings damaged, cars overturned and streets flooded.
“We unfortunately had a confirmed fatality associated with the weather we’ve experienced today,” Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a press conference late Thursday morning.
Officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department responded to a pickup truck stalled in flood waters. The driver had attempted to get out of the truck and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, NBC Local 33 reported. The person was later pronounced dead.
Broome said officials were caught off guard by the weather.
“Our community experienced a flash flood over night and into the morning today, experiencing more rainfall than was originally forecast,” she said. “The heaviest rains came during rush hour traffic this morning.”
She started her press conference with a moment of silence for the flooding victim, and then implored people to stay off the streets.
“I don’t want anybody to risk their lives,” Broome said.
Three people were injured at an Exxon plant in Sorrento, Louisiana, about 25 miles southeast of Baton Rouge, by a possible tornado, WAFB reported.
High winds and possible tornadoes also caused damage. Cars were flipped on their roofs in the parking lot at Baton Rouge General Hospital’s Bluebonnet campus by what may have been a tornado. The hospital later tweeted that there was some damage to building exteriors but added that patients and staff were safe. An apartment complex in the city also was damaged.
A tree fell across the front of a home in Central, Louisiana, just to the northeast of Baton Rouge. A family was in the house at the time, but only minor injuries were reported, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
Dozens of streets were closed by flooding in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Flooded streets were also reported in Evangeline, Iberia, Jeff Davis and St. Martin parishes, according to KATC.
Parts of Interstate 110 were underwater, according to The Advocate. Nearly 25,000 customers were without power in the state, according to poweroutage.us.
More than 3.5 inches of rain fell over two hours in the early morning hours local time, weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said.
WOW…flipped vehicle at Baton Rouge General Hospital on Bluebonnet after possible tornado. #LAwx @NWSNewOrleans pic.twitter.com/fSEIvK0e7H
— Steve Caparotta, Ph.D. (@SteveWAFB) June 6, 2019
UNREAL PICTURES: Coming in showing some damage and severe flooding across Baton Rouge. We are on air now on @wgmbfox44 following the storms as they move through the area. Be safe, folks! @WVLANBCLocal33 @wgmbfox44 pic.twitter.com/bX22Tal2UZ
— Gerron Jordan (@GerronJordan) June 6, 2019
The National Weather Service said a tornado was confirmed southeast of Baton Rouge near French Settlement at 9:34 a.m. CDT.
KATC reported that dozens of cars were stuck for hours in a parking lot in Lafayette because of the flooding in the streets.
Three schools in Evangeline Parish — Mamou Elementary School, Mamou High School and James Stephens Montessori School — had water get inside, KATC reported.
https://weather.com/news/news/2019-06-06-southeast-louisiana-storms-impacts-flooding
I WAS IN ONE OF THOSE LOUISIANA FLOODS ONCE. I RENTED A TRAILER IN A PARK NEXT TO A BAYOU. THIS ALABAMA MOUNTAIN BOY LEARNED ALL ABOUT FIRE ANTS AND SNAKES….FIRE ANTS WILL CLING TOGETHER IN FLOODWATERS, EFFECTIVELY FORMING A BALL THAT SLOWLY ROTATES. THERE ARE NO SACRIFICES OF SOME LIVES FOR MANY. I HAVE WITNESSED THIS MYSELF, ALONG WITH EVERY OTHER COONASS IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA.EVEN FIRE ANTS RESPECT INDIVIDUAL SURVIVORSHIP