The residents of LaButte Street in Carencro say their neighborhood was damaged Thursday when a tornado passed through the area.
Resident Ernie Fontenot says he and his wife were watching television when the storm seemed to get louder outside his home. The storm had become intense enough to pull tree limbs and debris into the air.
Fontenot says the burst of wind and rain only lasted for about ten seconds, but the damage that occurred during that ten seconds was quite significant.
Trash and other debris were thrown across the property. Neighbors had damage sustained to their homes as well. A gazebo was damaged and several large tree limbs were ripped from trees and strewn across yards and the roadway.
Fontenot says that it all happened very quickly and that he believes it may have been a downspout or even a possible tornado.
Flooding has also become a concern for Fontenot who says that more debris has been clogging the ditches and that during storms water has regularly begun to back up.
“I’m scared that it’ll keep rising and eventually come into the house,” says Fontenot. “hopefully not, but it is a concern.”
Resident Lenray Laiger showed KATC’s Josh Meny the damage on his property including a brick and mortar pump house was seriously damaged as the system blew through on Braquet Road.
“I heard my wife’s bird feeders hitting against the home and I went to the middle of the home. The safest part of the home,” Leger said. “It lasted on a few seconds and then it was done.”
Leger says that losing his home would have been a burden and he is blessed that the tornado missed it.
A gazebo on the property was also completely damaged and numerous power lines were downed in the community
Other residents in Carencro say they believe the twister passed through the area and was so quick they couldn’t react fast enough.
There is no official word if a tornado, in fact, touched down in the area.
