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EF1 tornado in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana

Tornado May 15, 2008 · St. Martin Parish, Louisiana

EF1

Rating

3.8 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

Injury

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF-1 tornado formed behind the Wal-Mart in Breaux Bridge and moved south along Highway 328, damaging several large warehouses. The tornado moved across Highway 94, destroying an insurance business and damaging several homes and apartments near it. The storm turned more to the left, and headed south through Beaux Bridge, blowing down many trees and causing more damage to homes and businesses. The tornado dissipated southeast of Breaux Bridge along Huval Road where it shifted a home off its pilings, injuring one man inside.

The wider storm

As a cold front approached, a squall line developed. Additional storms sprung up in front of the squall line, and where storms merged, a few tornadoes touched down. Along the squall line, winds of 60 mph blew down trees and caused minor damage to homes.

Began near Breaux Bridge (30.2964, -91.9090).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Vermilion Parish EF1 Beauregard Parish EF1 Lafayette Parish EF0 Beauregard Parish EF0 Vermilion Parish EF0 Lafayette Parish EF0 Vermilion Parish

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 107671. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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