EF2 Tornado — Acadia, Louisiana

2011-03-05 · near Rayne, Acadia, Louisiana

Event narrative

NWS Storm Survey confirmed an EF2 Tornado touched down northwest of the Ebenezer Road/Standard Mill Road intersection southwest of Rayne and moved across the northern portion of the city, before ending near the community of Castille. A few outbuildings were destroyed in a small subdivsion on Ebenezer Road and a few trees were blown down. The tornado crossed Highway 90 with no visible damage before striking the Rayne Water Treatment Plant west of town, completely destroying three metal buildings (EF2) and blowing debris over 200 yards to the east and northeast. The tornado then entered the main residential section of the city of Rayne at Marie Avenue and Lessley Street, demolishing two mobile homes and damaging several others (EF2). A patchwork of EF0/EF1 damage was noted to homes and trees as the storm moved across the northwestern part of Rayne. One woman was killed on Bella Avenue just north of West a School Street when a large tree fell onto and flattened her small home. The tornado intensified as it neared and crossed Martin Luther King Boulevard, where two small homes and an abandoned two story building were leveled, and several duplexes lost their entire roofs (EF2). Crossing Highway 35, another duplex lost much of its roof as did an auto parts store. Several security cameras from nearby buildings filmed the tornado in this area. The storm weakened as it moved into northeastern Rayne, causing generally minor roof and exterior damage to the high school and adjacent stadium (EF1). EF0 damage was noted as the tornado crossed Interstate 10, with several pine trees snapped and minor damage to buildings. Minor damage continued to a few buildings on Nation Road and Highway 98 (EF0), with the final damage noted to a mobile home on Charlie Arceneaux Road.

The City of Rayne Police Department confirmed a total of 1 fatality and 11 injuries. The Louisiana State Fire Marshals Office reported that 42 houses were destroyed, 48 sustained major damage, 79 houses suffered moderate damage, and another 514 houses received minor damage, for a total of 683 damaged homes. Another unknown number of businesses were also damaged.

Wider weather episode

Numerous showers and elevated thunderstorms developed across southeast Texas during the early morning hours on March 5, then spread eastward across southern Louisiana through the remainder of the morning. Some of these thunderstorms eventually became surface-based supercells, with one supercell producing four tornadoes across Jefferson Davis and Acadia Parishes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.2190, -92.3142)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 292185. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.