F1 Tornado — Iberia, Louisiana

2007-01-04 · near Lydia, Iberia, Louisiana

Event narrative

A tornado struck at 3:45 pm near the town of Lydia, causing minor damage to trees and barns. As the tornado raced northward at close to 50 mph, it strengthened to what would later be classified as a strong F1 on the Fujita Tornado Scale, with winds approximated near 110 mph. In the area of Neco Town Road and US 90, between Lydia and New Iberia, three mobile homes were flipped and completely destroyed. Seven people, including children, were able to crawl out of their homes with only minor injuries.

Upon crossing Highway 90, the storm destroyed another mobile home, fatally injuring two occupants and severely injuring 3 other people. As the storm got to LA 674 (East Admiral Doyle Drive), several brick homes received major damage. The storm continued north to the eastern fringe of New Iberia, heavily damaging several brick homes in the Bellaire subdivision. The tornado finally dissipated around 3:52 pm near Loreauville.

Wider weather episode

As a low pressure system in the northwest Gulf of Mexico moved inland over south central Louisiana, environmental parameters briefly lined up to produce a deadly tornado in New Iberia.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.9190, -91.7980)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 13767. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.