EF3 tornado in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Tornado May 26, 2011 · St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

EF3

Rating

6.1 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

Injuries

$400K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

Damage began at Birtrue Road east of Louisiana Highway 40. The tornado then continued eastward producing EF2 damage to homes on Birtue and Thornhill Roads. EF3 damage was observed near the intersection of Jenkins Cemetery Road and Louisiana Highway 40. Two homes had extensive damage with 90 percent of their roofs ripped off and collapse of some exterior walls. Three homes suffered significant damage, as well as 10 to 15 un-anchored mobile homes.

The wider storm

A cold front moved through southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana during the daytime hours on May 26. Numerous reports of hail and wind damage were received, as well as several reports of tornadoes.

Began near Blond (30.6156, -90.0491).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 298933. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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