Tuesday night, a tornado ripped through portions of New Orleans and its suburbs, flipping cars, ripping roofs off homes, and killing at least one person in a neighborhood devastated 17 years earlier by Hurricane Katrina.

Parts of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast, looked to bear the brunt of the weather's wrath, and it was there that the fatality happened. Officials of St. Bernard Parish provided no details on how the individual died; they stated that many other persons were injured.

According to Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann, rescue workers searched the suburban parish for additional people in need of aid. Guy McInnis, president of St. Bernard Parish, said the tornado wreaked havoc.

Other tornadoes created by the same storm system struck areas of Texas and Oklahoma on Monday, killing one person and injuring numerous others.

Local television stations in New Orleans carried live photos of the storm as it barreled across the region.

The tornado appeared to originate in a suburb before traveling east across the Mississippi River into New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward and portions of St. Bernard Parish — both of which were severely damaged by Katrina — before heading northeast.

Last year, numerous inhabitants were also impacted when Hurricane Ida – a Category 4 hurricane — slammed across the region. Stacey Mancuso's family had just completed repairs to their home in the Arabi suburb following Ida's roof-ripping devastation. Then Tuesday's tornado tore through their neighborhood. She crouched in the laundry room with her husband, two children, ages 16 and 11, and two dogs as the wind lifted a section of their new roof.

"We are still alive. That is all I can say at the moment. We retain four walls and a portion of a roof. "I consider myself fortunate," Mancuso stated. Nonetheless, the twister was the third severe meteorological event to strike the area since Katrina in 2005.

In Arabi, the air was thick with the odor of natural gas as locals and rescue personnel examined the damage. Several houses were demolished, and debris was dangling from electrical wires and trees. With the motor across the street, an aluminum fishing boat in front of one home was bent into the shape of a C. Due to downed and bending power lines, emergency personnel was forced to stroll through darkened neighborhoods inspecting for damage.

Michelle Malasovich is a resident of Arabi. Initially, she was concerned about family members who live in locations north of Louisiana experiencing severe weather. She was texting with her family when "suddenly, the lights started flickering," she explained.

Her husband was out on the porch when he noticed the approaching tornado.

"It continued to grow louder and louder," Malasovich explained. They returned after it passed to assess the damage. "Our neighbor's house is currently in the middle of the street."

Malasovich's home, she claimed, survived reasonably well. Several columns were thrown off the porch, and her Jeep's windows were blown out. A house had been severely damaged down the street, and the winds had shifted parked vehicles: "This is serious for down here."

Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans tweeted late Tuesday that there had been no reports of fatalities or substantial damage to the city. The city's power utility was working to restore power to the city's 8,000 damaged customers.

Around 13,000 houses and businesses were estimated to be without power following the storm in the three parishes around New Orleans.

While residents of the metropolitan area are accustomed to dealing with severe weather such as hurricanes or torrential rainfall, a tornado rarely passes through the city. When a tornado touched down in the city's eastern section in 2017, it caused severe devastation.

Many schools in regions of Louisiana and Mississippi shuttered early or canceled after-school activities in advance of the severe weather. Shelters were opened for residents needing a place to remain as the storms passed.

Federal and state officials in Louisiana advised thousands of storm survivors living in government-provided mobile homes and recreational vehicle trailers to prepare an escape plan if the structures fail to withstand the anticipated weather. According to officials, around 8,000 households are housed in such temporary lodgings.

As it moved into Alabama Tuesday evening after departing the New Orleans region, the system dumped heavy rain, destroyed trees, and prompted multiple tornado warnings. The National Weather Service tweeted that numerous homes' roofs were damaged in Toxey, Alabama, as a storm preceded by tornado warnings went through the area.

Forecasters predicted a robust line of weather coming eastward from Texas into the Deep South, and Monday began with some brutal weather in Texas.

Along the Interstate 35 corridor, several tornadoes were reported. Elgin's rural roads were lined with downed trees, and high winds dangled from the branches uprooted. Residents avoided collapsing power wires as they cleaned up the wreckage of broken ceilings, pulled down walls, and wrecked automobiles.

J.D. Harkins, 59, stated that he witnessed two tornadoes pass directly over his Elgin home.

"There used to be a barn there," Harkins explained, pointing to an abandoned patch of land on his uncle's farm strewn with rubble. He stated that the building was vacant when the first tornado struck Monday and that his family was relieved that no one was injured.

According to Storm Prediction Center data, homes and businesses in at least a dozen Texas counties sustained damage. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas declared a disaster for 16 hard-hit counties. Abbott stated that ten individuals were injured in the Crockett region by storms, while more than a dozen others were reportedly wounded elsewhere.

The Grayson County Emergency Management Office confirmed the death of a 73-year-old lady in the hamlet of Sherwood Shores, approximately 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Dallas, but provided no other information.