A series of tornadoes ripped through the South on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of a young boy and mother whose home was destroyed in Louisiana, officials said.
The mother and her 8-year-old son were reported missing after a tornado touched down in Keithville Tuesday night, damaging several buildings and knocking down trees and power lines, according to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office.
After an hours-long search for a missing mom and child, the agency reported that the boy was found dead in a wooded area near his destroyed home.
Shortly before 3 a.m., the sheriff’s office reported that first responders located the boy’s missing 30-year-old mom, who was discovered dead one street over from her home.
“She was located under debris caused by a tornado,” the sheriff’s statement said.
The victims have not yet been identified.
At least two other people, described only as an adult man and a woman, were hospitalized with injuries. Their conditions were not immediately known.
“It’s really a sad, sad situation,” Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said.
Caddo deputies are going house-to-house checking for residents. Cadaver dogs and a drone will be used in the search throughout the day Wednesday.
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The deadly tornado in Louisiana was part of a destructive weather system that also spawned twisters in part of Texas and Oklahoma, and delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains.
Five tornadoes were confirmed across north Texas Tuesday, but potentially a dozen occurred.
Several people were injured and dozens of homes and businesses were damaged outside the Dallas area.
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are bracing for more storms Wednesday, according to meteorologists.
Blizzard warnings stretched from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado, and the National Weather Service said as much as 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska.
Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the Northeast and central Appalachians.
Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch out for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.
With Post wires
