NEW ORLEANS -- National Weather Service teams were studying severe-weather damage in Louisiana and Mississippi on Wednesday to determine where tornadoes struck and just how powerful they were.
At least five confirmed tornadoes hit Louisiana, and one hit Mississippi on Tuesday, meteorologists said. There may have been more in Louisiana, but it could take several days to determine that, Christopher Bannan said.
"Confirmation teams look for a concentrated, focused path," and check on whether tree trunks and other large pieces of debris in that path cross one another, he said.
That differs from other wind damage, he said. Damage from a down-burst radiates outward from a central point, and straight-line wind damage is widespread, without a set path, with downed trees and other debris pointing in the same direction.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a news release Wednesday that two people remain hospitalized, and that 78 people spent Tuesday night in a shelter, which remains open.
His statement also said that two-thirds of the 10,400 Entergy customers who lost electricity in the storms have had their electricity restored, and the rest may have to wait up to five days before getting the lights back on.
He said he asked Gov. John Bel Edwards to keep the 150 members of the Louisiana National Guard assigned to New Orleans "until after Mardi Gras," which wraps up Feb. 28.
National Weather Service teams fanned out Wednesday in Louisiana and Mississippi, analyzing the destruction. They determined that a twister that hit eastern New Orleans was an EF3 on the enhanced Fujita scale, meaning its winds reached from 136-165 mph, capable of causing severe damage.
The state was counting the buildings damaged or destroyed, Mike Steele of the governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said Wednesday.
One of Tuesday's tornadoes lifted the mobile home of Brittany Ross' family into the air and slammed it back down moments after she was savoring the smell of her aunt's simmering white beans.
"The place started shaking, kind of twisting," she said in the storm wreckage at a small trailer park in eastern New Orleans. That area bore the brunt of the storms that injured about 40 people in southeastern Louisiana.
Ross, 26, her aunt and two others crawled out of the wreckage as debris was still flying around them. They were uninjured but suddenly homeless.
The Louisiana tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses, flipped cars and trucks, and left thousands without power, but no deaths were reported, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
The governor took an aerial tour of the damage Tuesday and issued a disaster declaration before meeting with officials in New Orleans. Worst hit was the same Ninth Ward that was so heavily flooded in 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
Edwards, a Democrat, promised that the state will provide the storms' victims with the resources they need as quickly as possible.
He said seven parishes were hit by the tornadoes. The storm system also produced hail and heavy rain in Mississippi, where two counties reported wind damage from suspected tornadoes. Parts of the Florida panhandle and southern Alabama also received severe weather, but reported no injuries.
Artie Chaney said her granddaughter returned home from school as hail clattered down Tuesday, just ahead of the tornado.
Hailstones "were falling on the car, and I was looking out the side door and saw the clouds moving fast. I heard this sound. We looked up in the air, and we could see debris in the distance and before we knew it, it was just barreling down on us," Chaney said.
"We ran in the house; the lights went out. We ran down the hallway to the middle bedroom, and then we just heard glass shattering. We thought we weren't gonna make it. It seemed like it lasted a long time. It was a horrible experience. We were just so grateful to God that nobody was hurt."
Chaney's voice broke as she looked over the wreckage. "We went through all of Katrina, with no damage. I didn't think I'd be starting over again."
The Baton Rouge area also was hit by storms. Three people were injured, and several homes and buildings were damaged in the historic part of Donaldsonville, about 20 miles southwest of the state's capital, said Ascension Parish sheriff's spokesman Allison Hudson.
Information for this article was contributed by Jeff Martin, Janet McConnaughey, Chevel Johnson, Rebecca Santana and Gerald Herbert of The Associated Press.
A Section on 02/09/2017