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One Hurt, Dozens of Homes Damaged as Storms Roll Across Texas, Louisiana

By Jan Wesner Childs

October 27, 2021

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At a Glance

  • At least one person was injured in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
  • A tornado was reported north of Houston.
  • Homes were damaged in Newton County, Texas.
  • Tens of thousands of people were without power.
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At least one person was injured, dozens of homes damaged and tens of thousands of power outages reported as severe storms with tornadoes and high winds rolled across eastern Texas into Louisiana Wednesday.

Here's a look at what happened.

Texas County Declares State of Disaster

Orange County, Texas, issued a disaster declaration, citing "extensive and widespread damage to public and private property."

Drone video showed homes torn apart in the town of Mauriceville, about 95 miles northeast of Houston.

Also in Orange County, a passenger in a vehicle captured on video a tornado crossing Interstate 10.

Dozens of Homes Damaged In Lake Charles

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in South Lake Charles. Between 25 and 40 homes were damaged, according to Dick Gremillion, Calcasieu Parish director of emergency management.

"I would say 15-20 of those probably have major damage," Gremillion told weather.com in a phone call late Wednesday afternoon. "Most are roof failure."

The tornado was on the ground for about two miles in a neighborhood near the city's airport, he said.

Dozens of homes were damaged by a tornado in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021.
(Brett Adair/Live Storms Media via Twitter)

At least one person was injured when the windows blew out of a home in another part of town.

Lake Charles has been battered by severe weather over the past year or so, including major flash flooding in May, icy winter weather in February and hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. The hurricanes were an especially strong one-two punch to the city. Some houses still have blue tarps on their roofs.

Power Outages Easing

More than 34,000 homes and businesses were without power in Texas as of about 4:30 p.m. CDT, according to poweroutage.us.

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More than 90,000 outages were reported statewide Wednesday morning. That number included about 17,000 in Harris County. Other counties reporting outages included Brazoria, Calhoun, Austin, Chambers and Orange.

About 20,000 outages were reported in Louisiana Wednesday afternoon, nearly all of them in the Lake Charles area. That number dropped about 13,000 by early evening.

Homes Hit in East Texas

Officials were assessing damage in Newton County, about 100 miles northeast of Houston. A sheriff's office employee there told weather.com there were trees down and some homes with "moderate" damage.

Several Reports of Damage Near State Line

The National Weather Service noted "multiple reports" of damage in Mauriceville, Texas, near the Louisiana line in Orange County. There were at least three reports of tornadoes there.

Reports also came in of a tornado in Louisiana's Beauregard Parish.

Possible Tornado Reported North of Houston

A possible tornado was reported in Spring, north of Houston and about 9 miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport. At least one home was damaged in the area when a tree fell on it, according to Harris County Sheriff's Office Ed Gonzalez. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Travelers were advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

Where's the Weather Headed?

The storms will move continue to move across Louisiana and then into Mississippi and on to the Florida Panhandle, weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce said.

“We’re basically just going to see a line of storms that move eastward," Dolce said. "There could be some supercells popping out of it.”

There could also be more tornadoes and gusty winds.

Click here for the full severe weather forecast.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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