ARABI, La. — Meteorologists with the National Weather Service surveying storm damage in Arabi on Wednesday said the aftermath shows that the deadly tornado was at least an EF-3.
The NWS said a final assessment, including results of the entire survey, are expected to be completed in the next two days.
An EF-3 tornado is considered "strong, significant and intense," according to the National Weather Service, with estimated winds between 136 mph to 165 mph.
Additionally, a NWS tornado survey team in St. Tammany determined that an EF-1 tornado with winds of 90 mph started near Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge and Highway 190 before crossing Interstate 12 and Highway 36.
The tornado that ripped through Arabi flipped a schoolbus, ripped off rooftops and deposited a house with a family inside onto the middle of Prosperity Street. Arabi, just east of the city’s Lower 9th Ward, was wrecked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and hit hard again when Hurricane Ida swept through last year.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.