2 dead in Louisiana as tornadoes hit the South, leaving thousands without power

At least two people died as severe storms hit Louisiana overnight. Storms and tornadoes brought devastation to southern states, leaving tens of thousands with damaged homes or downed power lines.

One person died under unknown circumstances on the outskirts of the city of Henderson, while an unidentified woman was killed when a tree fell on her mobile home in West Baton Rouge, police said. A man and a 5-year-old boy were also in the trailer and were taken to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries, the local sheriff’s office said.

Flash floods and storms have hit communities from Texas to Florida, leaving 186,000 energy customers without power as of 9:30 p.m. Monday.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 105,000 customers were still without power in five states, including 70,000 in Louisiana and 14,000 in Florida.

The National Weather Service warned that the severe weather threat may not be over Tuesday, with the threat of damaging winds and “very large hail” on the Gulf Coast and Southeast and possible tornadoes in central and southern Florida and southern Georgia.

Sheriff Becket Breaux of St. Martin Parish, east of Lafayette, confirmed in a video message posted to Facebook Monday evening that one person had died on the outskirts of Henderson and said damage across the county indicated there had been a tornado.

The National Weather Service previously confirmed a tornado in Calcasieu Parish, near Sulfur, and one in Lake Charles.

“We already have one confirmed death and we don’t want anyone else to get hurt,” he said.

Sherbin Collette, mayor of Henderson, Louisiana, said at the same press conference: “We have a lot of road damage, water on the roads, trees on the roads, debris everywhere, we’re asking people to stay away (affected areas).”

Footage from Henderson showed destroyed buildings. Pat’s Fisherman’s Wharf, a popular seafood restaurant founded in 1948, released footage showing storm damage and piles of debris. “The tornado hit us very hard,” the restaurant’s Facebook page said.

The St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office also asked people in a Facebook message not to go sightseeing amid the rubble.

Elsewhere in Louisiana, footage uploaded to social media showed flash flooding that made driving dangerous while standing water in Denham Springs, east of Baton Rouge Surrounding houses in Zachary, in the north-west. In the city of Sulfur, strong winds overturned at least one car and severely damaged several buildings, videos showed.

There were 14 tornado warnings in Alabama on Monday alone, according to the National Weather Service said

Texas was hit by hailstorms – with rocks the size of golf balls in the city of Victoria, 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico – as well as lightning strikes.

Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, was closed after lightning damaged a runway. The airport later reopened but advised passengers to check with their airline before traveling.

Florida was again hit by storms while a major reconstruction effort sparked by previous tornadoes was in full swing. The city of Tallahassee said Sunday that nearly 400 utility poles had collapsed, more than during Hurricanes Hermine, Irma and Michael combined. City hall said up to five times as many maintenance workers were working to restore power as usual.

April and May are typically busy months for tornado activity, but this spring has been exceptional, from the Southeast and the Great Plains to the Midwest.

There have been more than 6,000 reports of large hail and damaging winds this year, including 267 tornadoes in 19 states in the last two weeks alone. This year, April saw the second-highest tornado activity on record, only in 2011.