U.S. storm brings tornadoes, blizzard-like conditions; 2 dead

DALLAS — A volatile storm ripping across the United States spawned tornadoes that killed a young boy and his mother in Louisiana, smashed mobile homes and chicken houses in Mississippi and threatened neighboring Southern states with more punishing weather Wednesday.

To the north, the huge storm system delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and was expected to push more snow and ice into Appalachia and New England. The wintery blast dumped more than 2 feet of snow in parts of South Dakota.

In northern Louisiana, it took hours for authorities to find the bodies of a mother and child reported missing after a tornado swept away their mobile home Tuesday in Keithville, a rural community near Shreveport.

CONFIRMED TORNADO in New Orleans, LA at 4 p.m. CT moving northeast toward Arabi and the Lower 9th Ward. This is rain wrapped. Take shelter in the path of this storm. pic.twitter.com/l8sqZXudGC

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 14, 2022

“You go to search a house and the house isn’t even there, so where do you search?” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters, noting the challenge faced by emergency responders as he toured a mile-long path of destruction in Keithville.

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The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said the body of 8-year-old Nikolus Little was found around 11 p.m. Tuesday in a wooded area. His mother, Yoshiko A. Smith, 30, was found dead under storm debris around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Smith’s body was discovered one street over from where their home had been. Her son was found dead as far as a half-mile away, said Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Sgt. Casey Jones. He said the boy’s father had left to buy groceries before the storm hit.

“He just went to go shopping for his family, came home and the house was gone,” said Jones. When deputies arrived, they found nothing but a concrete slab.

Apartments are damaged, mobile homes are destroyed and vehicles were flipped over by the #tornado that hit north of #Farmerville #Louisiana last night. ????

Tyshiba Wilson says her 2 kids and niece survived by jumping in a bathtub.

Live coverage all day on AccuWeather ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/neqPhXHiJ8

— Bill Wadell (@BillWadell) December 14, 2022

Wednesday’s forecast called for more severe storms with additional tornadoes expected across an area of the Gulf Coast region populated by nearly 3 million people from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala. More damaging weather also was possible in the Florida panhandle.

A steady stream of tornado warnings was issued Wednesday across portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

In Union Parish, in northern Louisiana near the Arkansas line, Farmerville Mayor John Crow said a tornado Tuesday night badly damaged an apartment complex where 50 families lived, wiping out a neighboring trailer park with about 10 homes. “It happened quick,” Crow said Wednesday, adding that about 30 homes were damaged along nearby Lake D’Arbonne.

We are absolutely heartbroken. These damage photos out of Arabi are just horrible. ???? Chris Dier pic.twitter.com/WhwLWOCTsJ

— wdsu (@wdsu) December 14, 2022

Shannon Futch, Union Parish’s emergency director, said there were reports of numerous people treated for cuts and bruises and at least two people hospitalized after a twister cut a swath of damage about 5 miles long, toppling trees onto about a dozen houses.

“Some people even stayed the night in their houses that had big pine trees on them,” Futch said. “They didn’t have anywhere to go.”

A suspected tornado reported in New Iberia in southwest Louisiana damaged several buildings on the campus of New Iberia Medical Center, hospital officials said, with five people reporting minor injuries.

Another view of the tornado that moved through New Iberia, LA earlier this morning. Multiple tornado warnings are still in effect through the South - please stay weather aware. pic.twitter.com/Bmut1XNltK

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 14, 2022

In neighboring Mississippi, a suspected tornado destroyed four large chicken houses — one containing 5,000 roosters — in Rankin County, Miss., Sheriff Bryan Bailey said. Mobile homes at a park in Sharkey County, Mississppi, were reduced to piles of shredded debris. Resident Leslie Jackson told WLBT-TV her home was one of only a few left standing.

A line of thunderstorms sweeping through Texas spawned tornadoes Tuesday that damaged dozens of homes and businesses. At least five people were injured In the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, police spokesperson Amanda McNew said. A possible tornado blew the roof off the city’s municipal service center, leaving debris dangling from powerlines.

Icy weather from the huge storm was expected to affect the U.S. from coast to coast. It began by dumping heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada and was predicted to bring ice and snow to the eastern U.S. in coming days.

“This system is notable for the fact that it’s going impact areas all the way from California to eventually the Northeast,” said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md.

Brutally cold air from Siberia will spread across the U.S. in the days before #Christmas. https://t.co/FeuRVG30oH

— Kevin Byrne (@Accu_Kevin) December 14, 2022

Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the central Appalachians and Northeast. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet.

In the Black Hills of western South Dakota, snow piled up to nearly 2 feet in some mountainous communities.

“They shovel for hours on end,” said Vicki Weekly, who manages a historic hotel in the tourist and gambling city of Deadwood. A few visitors were still venturing out to hit the casinos.

Thank you to all the crews clearing snowy roads and keeping residents safe today!@mikeseidel gives a Winter Storm #Diaz update from Sturgis, South Dakota: pic.twitter.com/WHuIYS6BAj

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) December 14, 2022

A roughly 320-mile span of Interstate 90 in South Dakota was closed Wednesday, and state officials warned drivers to stay off most highways. The state also planned to close Interstate 29 in the northeast corner of the state on Wednesday night.

Wet, heavy snow left tree limbs sagging and made driving treacherous Wednesday in northern Minnesota. Weather Service meteorologist Ketzel Levens in Duluth said snow had reached 6 to 8 inches in some areas.