NEW ORLEANS — A video taken from the Domino Sugar Refinery in Arabi shows the strong EF-3 tornado as it races across the Mississippi and actually spawns a second vortex behind it.
Seeing the video, it actually appears as if a second tornado is forming from or near the first one, but, WWL-TV Meteorologist Chris Franklin says it is part of the same system.
He said there are times when a strong tornado, usually a category-3 or higher, will have multiple “spins” to it.
“This tornado was a multi-vortex,” he said, something that was reported Tuesday night. “That means there are several ‘spins’ off of the main vortex. This was another spin.”
Franklin said that being part of the same system means the “second vortex” either follows the main vortex, or briefly goes parallel to the system.
The EF-3 tornado, a relative rarity in the metro New Orleans area, is defined on the Fujita Rating Scale as “strong, significant and intense.”
The storm started on the west bank of Jefferson Parish and did some minor damage as it tried to gain footing, which it appeared to do as it crossed the Mississippi River from Orleans Parish to St. Bernard, where it slammed several neighborhoods with moderate to major damage and caused the death of 25-year-old Connor Lambert.
Governor John Bel Edwards declared a State of Emergency to try to get federal funding for the disaster.