Terror struck New Orleans Feb. 13 as an early morning tornado touched down in neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught in August 2005.
The tornado, which apparently skipped across both sides of the Mississippi River, struck dangerously close to First Baptist Church, Westwego, and Gentilly Baptist Church and just a few blocks from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
The powerful line of storms, in addition to spawning a tornado, toppled trees, downed power lines and killed at least one woman.
The storms were particularly frightening for thousands of area residents still living in small, vulnerable FEMA trailers 18 months after Hurricane Katrina.
Southern Baptists were on the scene immediately as volunteers and residents trained in disaster relief went into action.
Just two blocks from a street that sustained heavy damage, Jackie James, project manager for the Arkansas Baptist Builders, and his wife, Linda, who are residing in a trailer on Gentilly Baptist’s property, woke at about 3:15 a.m. as wind, hail and rain rocked the trailer. James pulled all crews in to the area to repair roofs and do immediate damage control.
A group of 96 volunteers, including groups from Arkansas, South Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska and Canada, returned home from New Orleans the week of Feb. 12. Sixteen volunteers presently are staying at Gentilly Baptist, and a group of 70 was scheduled to arrive the week of Feb. 19.
In Westwego, soon after Jay Adkins, pastor of First, Westwego, was awakened by the storms, he looked out the window and saw what seemed to be flashes of lightning but quickly realized that the flashes were transformers blowing and objects catching on fire.
Moments after the storm passed, Adkins and the church’s youth pastor, Brian Scholl, ran to a nearby economy hotel to assist the guests.
The tornado made a direct hit on the hotel, and all the guests, many of whom had been there for an extended period of time, had to be moved to a shelter at a nearby school.
Elsewhere in Louisiana, a tornado left a five-mile swath of destruction through the rural community of Breaux Bridge about 11 miles east of Lafayette just below Interstate 10.
Teche Baptist Church, Breaux Bridge, La., working with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, is caring for at least 12 people whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
At least 43 homes either were destroyed or sustained some sort of damage, said Guy Cormier, St. Martin Parish president and a deacon at Highland Baptist Church, New Iberia, La.
Aware that the parish would need more than just local help in recovery efforts, Cormier, as the man responsible for disaster relief in St. Martin Parish, signed a declaration of emergency at 5 a.m., prompting Gov. Kathleen Blanco to fly over the area and then go on a ground tour.
"She was blown away by the devastation she saw," Cormier said. "She assured us that the state is going to do everything they can to help us through this situation."
Teche Baptist, only a few miles from where the tornado struck, opened its doors at 2 a.m. at the request of Sheriff Ronnie Theriot to give tornado victims shelter and food, Pastor Wayne Lyons reported.
"There aren’t that many trees down, but there’s a lot of damage to homes," Lyons said. "One man lost his house. He had no other place to go. He has no family. I told him, ‘We’re not going to throw you out on the street. We’ll take care of you.’"
Lyons said Teche Baptist believes God will see the community through the difficult times ahead.
"We’ve gotten numerous calls from volunteer groups across the state," Cormier said. "We do need help."
Many residents whose homes were destroyed had just dropped their homeowners’ insurance because those living below I–10 saw their premiums double after the 2005 hurricane season.
Tornado damage also was reported in the communities of Youngsville, Loreauville and Port of Iberia in the Lafayette area. (BP)
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