Children found in overturned trailer after tornado rips through Louisiana

Severe thunderstorms across the South produced damage ahead of a cold front that promised to produce heavy rainfall along the Gulf Coast and snowfall for parts of the Upper Midwest on what was deemed by the FOX Forecast Center to be a triple threat.

Tornado watches were in place for more than 5 million Americans as the threat of severe storms rolled into the lower Mississippi Valley on Wednesday.

Communities from Texas to Missouri reported seeing the damage that included large hail, damaging winds, and at least one tornado.

The hardest hit appeared to be Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana, where authorities spent the evening surveying damage after the observed tornado rolled through just after sunset.

Robby Miller, the president of Tangipahoa Parish, said some areas were devastated, but fortunately, there were no significant injuries.

“Thankfully, there were no serious injuries. We’ve had so far, as the first responders are going through the area looking for damage and for people. There are some children in a trailer that was overturned and destroyed. They were fine. We did they did get them transported to the local hospital to be checked out, but they seem to be fine,” said Miller.

The parish president said the event was likely traumatic for those who live in the community but due to the apparent jumpy nature of the twister, not all residences were damaged.

The Storm Prediction Center received reports of trees and power lines in several communities as the storms also produced damaging winds upwards of 70 mph.

Several trees were snapped and blocked roadways north of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and storm chasers captured video of ominous clouds in western Mississippi.

The National Weather Service office in New Orleans is expected to survey the damage to determine how strong the Tangipahoa Parish tornado was and if any other twisters touched down during Wednesday’s storms.

An NWS team will examine doppler radar imagery and scout out damage to reconstruct the tornado’s path and determine its rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Storms roll eastward on Thursday

Individual supercells will organize into a powerful line of thunderstorms and march across southern Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle on Thursday.

A few severe thunderstorms are possible across the Southeast on Friday, including northern Florida, southern and eastern Georgia, and southern South Carolina.

The FOX Forecast Center said wind damage would be the most likely threat from the storms.