If your home is without a roof or on its side or has a tree limb through the living room you really don't care whether it was a tornado or a straight-line wind that did the damage. However, forecasters with the National Weather Service need to know this information so they can do a better job of keeping you and me safe from the storms.

Tuesday's tornado outbreak in Southeast Louisiana wasn't totally unexpected. The Storm Prediction Center had placed the area in the slight risk category for strong storms during the day on Tuesday. The Monday forecast that part of the state had no mention of severe weather just demonstrates how quickly things can change.

It’s a good reminder to have multiple ways of getting warnings. Whether it’s your cellphone, whether it’s watching TV, you’ve got to have multiple ways of getting warnings because you might not hear one.

Slidell forecaster Mike Efferson made those comments to the Louisiana Radio Network. That's also one of the reasons that we keep such a close eye on the weather here at the radio station. When things change quickly quite often we are the most convenient and reliable source of information.

Investigators with the National Weather Service were combing through the debris in the affected areas yesterday to determine just what kind of storm caused the damage. There is certainty that there were tornadoes on the ground. Just how many and how strong the tornadoes were on the Fujita scale are what forecasters are hoping to determine.

Efferson speculated on one of the storms,

Anywhere from a two going into a three is getting very strong, especially this far south. It’s not very often you’re going to have tornadoes that are EF2 or EF3 going through New Orleans

The cleanup continues in the area as does the investigation. The bottom line is this. As we move into springtime in the state the frequency of strong storms and tornadoes will increase. Is your family prepared for that kind of a situation should it arise in your town?

 

 

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