Dude, Tornadoes...Seriously?

You have got to be kidding me.

Twisters Rip Through Metro Area

POSTED: 6:56 am CST February 2, 2006
UPDATED: 7:01 am CST February 3, 2006

NEW ORLEANS -- Tornadoes early Thursday morning tore through New Orleans neighborhoods that were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.

Authorities said at least one hurricane-damaged house collapsed and a radio tower at the former headquarters of the Louisiana State Police Troop B was blown down.

A line of severe thunderstorms moved across the area around 2:30 a.m. Tim Destri, of the National Weather Service, said it appears the damage was caused by two tornadoes, one that hit the airport in Kenner and another that originated in Metairie and moved into the New Orleans area.

At Louis Armstrong International Airport, electricity was knocked out until shortly before noon. Until then, passengers waited in a dimly lit terminal powered by generator. Only a couple of flights could get out in the morning because luggage scanners had no power and security checks had to be done by hand.

Wind ripped away a tarp covering a hole made in a Concourse C roof by Katrina. It also tore away exhaust venting from another roof and blew it through a concourse window, depositing it at a security checkpoint.

A piece of an extendable jetway used to board passengers was torn in two, with the outer portion turning on its side as it slammed into another jetway. Motorized runway luggage carts were overturned.

The damaged concourse is used by United and American airlines, among others. Those airlines were temporarily relocated to other concourses.

New Orleans Police Department spokesman Juan Quinton said damage appeared to be limited only to a portion of the city from the Jefferson Parish line toward Lake Pontchartrain badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina.
Copyright 2006 by WDSU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.