CONVENT, La. (WGNO) – A trailer park in St. James Parish has been completely demolished after a reported tornado struck it Tuesday afternoon killing two people and injuring dozens of others.
At a news conference just before 7 p.m., St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin said two people died at Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent, seven people were critically injured, and more than 30 were wounded.
Sheriff Martin also said the park usually has about 160 trailers with 300 inhabitants. But some work in a nearby chemical plant so there’s no way to know how many were home when the storm hit.
He is asking Sugar Hill residents to call the dispatch center at (225) 562-2200 if you are OK.
“Just to give you an indication, one individual I was speaking to when I first got here can’t find his trailer, can’t find his brother and so that’s what were dealing with back there. A lot of debris piled up in the areas, some of it we just couldn’t get down in to,” Sheriff Martin said.
Search and rescue efforts have been hampered because of the amount of debris. Crews are using dogs to try and find people trapped.
Sheriff Martin also said ambulances had trouble getting some of the injured to the hospital because downed power lines blocked major roads.
The St. James Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness received notification of a possible tornado in the Convent area around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The parish is setting up a shelter at the Lutcher Senior Center on 2631 Louisiana Avenue, Lutcher, LA 70071.
We’ll update this breaking news story when more information becomes available.
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