On Tuesday, a storm system that caused widespread damage and some injuries in Texas moved into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, potentially causing “a regional severe weather outbreak,” according to the Storm Prediction Center.
Forecasters said severe tornadoes might hit the impacted areas, which include Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi.
Thousands of hurricane survivors living in government-provided mobile homes and recreational vehicle trailers in Louisiana have been warned to have an escape plan because the structures may not be able to withstand the predicted weather.
According to Bob Howard, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, more than 8,000 households are living in such makeshift housing.
In a joint statement, the agencies said floods might cause the most damage.
“Repeated bouts of heavy rainfall can occur over the same areas, increasing the risk for flooding,” the statement said. “Move to higher ground if you hear of flood warnings.”
According to a news release issued last week, nearly 1,800 households in trailers funded directly by FEMA are still unable to return to homes damaged or destroyed by storms Laura and Delta in 2020. According to Howard, another 1,600 trailers were deployed for Hurricane Ida’s affected households, and Louisiana has laid out more than 4,400 RV trailers for Ida’s victims as part of a FEMA-funded test program.
According to the organizations, anyone staying in state or FEMA temporary housing should keep their telephones turned on and fully charged, with the volume turned up and severe weather warnings turned on.
“Nighttime is predicted to be the most dangerous,” they added.
The release noted that the mobile homes and RV trailers are government property that cannot be moved.
The storm already left misery in its wake in Texas, injuring at least four people, officials said.
Officials reported damage throughout Jacksboro, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth. There, photographs posted on social media showed a storm ripped the wall and roof from parts of Jacksboro High School, especially its gym.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” school principal Starla Sanders told WFAA-TV in Dallas.
The storm also struck the city’s animal shelter, but the amount of damage wasn’t immediately clear.
A truck is knocked on its side after a tornado hit a shopping center near I-35 and SH 45 in Round Rock, Texas.
Damage was reported to be extensive 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Jacksboro, near Bowie, with reports of individuals trapped in collapsed structures. The biggest damage, according to city manager Bert Cunningham, was east of town, where four entrapments were reported. According to Emergency Manager Kelly McNabb, four people suffered minor injuries.
The National Weather Service stated severe storms were recorded as tornadoes in parts of central and east Texas, particularly in the Austin and College Station areas. Building damage was seen and shared on social media in the Austin suburbs of Round Rock and Elgin. There were no early reports of injuries.
During a news conference Monday night in suburban Austin’s Williamson County, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that the “devastating” storms had caused significant damage, but that the state would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with those affected, and that he was thankful that no fatalities had been reported.
“We know there are a lot of people whose lives have been severely disrupted, and we know there are a lot of people who have lost their houses,” Abbott said. “At the same time… it may be a miracle, because even though there has been some catastrophic physical damage, there has been no mention of loss of life to my knowledge as of right now, which is simply astonishing.”