Not Kansas, but still tornado alley

A tornado touched down today in Watson, LA which is about 8 miles from where I live and about 5 miles from where I work. Here is the news story from http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/police/42370642.html?showAll=y&c=y

p.s. I live in East Baton Rouge parish in the Sherwood area which is mentioned in the article. Also, power at work was out today from about 10am until 5pm as a result of the tornado. East Baton Rouge Parish and Livingston Parish border each other.

TITLE: NO INJURIES CITED AFTER TORNADO

"A tornado touched down in Watson and high winds knocked power out at 35,000 homes and businesses in Baton Rouge and vicinity Thursday, officials said. Nobody was reported injured, officials said.

Most of the damage occurred in Livingston and East Baton Rouge parishes, where power company officials said most customers should be back on line Thursday night. But crews might have to work all night to get electricity back to everyone.

The tornado struck near Oak Hills subdivision in Watson, Tim Erickson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed. A number of trees were broken off about 10 feet above the ground by the twister, said Brian Fairburn, director of the Livingston Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, about 12,000 utility customers remained without power as of 3 p.m. Thursday, officials with Entergy and DEMCO said. At least one residence in the Sherwood area was damaged by a falling tree, Fire Department spokesman Barry Mounce said.

In Livingston Parish, about 8,000 DEMCO customers lost power from the midday storm, but all but 2,700 were back on line by 4:30 p.m., spokesman David Latona said. As many as 18,000 DEMCO customers throughout the system lost power due to the storm, he said. Another 2,900 Entergy customers lost power in Livingston Parish, mainly in Watson, Port Vincent and Walker, spokeswoman Mary Broussard said."