Louisiana Storms Ignite Oil Storage Tanks and Damage Rec Center
Louisiana residents got a double dip of strong storms and severe weather over the weekend. The first round of bad weather moved through the heart of the state during the middle of the day on Saturday. Those storms and heavy downpours were enough to change schedules at UL Ragin Cajun Softball and Baseball Games, move the Second Harvest Food Bank Duck Derby to a different platform, and put a damper on celebrations involving boudin in Scott and cracklin' in Parks.
While the storms Saturday did generate some heavy downpours and gusty winds the worst of the weather was still yet to come. And come it did during the late hours of Saturday or the wee small hours of early Sunday depending on where you live. The conditions associated with that band of storms did the most damage across South Louisiana by far.
The most serious damage from the late Saturday/Early Sunday spate of strong storms was at a crude oil storage facility in Hackberry, Louisiana. Lightning from one of the passing storms ignited two of the storage tanks. The resulting fire from those tanks was the catalyst for a shelter-in-place warning for some residents of Hackberry. That shelter-in-place order was rescinded late Sunday afternoon. But members of the Hackberry Fire Department are still monitoring the oil storage tanks, just in case.
Another casualty of late Saturday/ early Sunday storms was a home on Green Oak Road in Kinder. The home's owner told KPLC Television out of Lake Charles that the home was basically destroyed. Fortunately, the home was not occupied at the time the storm passed through so no injuries were reported. Other residents on Green Oak Lane reported trees and limbs down as a result of the severe weather.
In Jeanerette, city officials there say the line of severe storms ripped the roof off of the Ward 8 Recreation Center on North Hubertville Road. City officials spent part of the day Sunday assessing the damage to the center. Mayor Carol Bourgeois told KATC television that several other residents in town reported damage to their property and many of the town's residents lost power during the storm.
Louisiana residents can expect a much calmer week as far as the weather forecast goes. For the most part, skies will be clear, and temperatures seasonable today and Tuesday. A small threat of showers creeps into the forecast for Wednesday and later in the week. As of now, there are no severe weather threats forecast for the area, at least for the immediate future.
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