A possible tornado moved through a commercial parking lot near a Walmart Supercenter and Lowe's store on West Thomas Street in Hammond on Labor Day afternoon, with walls collapsing at a nearby business park. The twister packed estimated peak winds of 85 mph and carved a 0.77-mile path before lifting near Saint Road, leaving thousands of Tangipahoa Parish residents without electricity as crews scrambled to assess the damage.
A possible tornado was reported near West Thomas Street. As of Monday night, nearly 5,000 customers were without power amid the strong storms, according to WDSU, with outages concentrated in Tangipahoa Parish.
The Hammond Police Department reported extensive property damage and shared photos of a business park with walls knocked down, per WBRZ.
Tangipahoa Emerges as the State's Outage Epicenter
Nearly 5,000 customers in Tangipahoa Parish were without electricity during Monday's storms.
Before the tornado was reported, the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Tangipahoa Parish through 3:45 p.m. Monday and separate warnings for East Feliciana, West Feliciana, and East Baton Rouge parishes through 4:30 p.m.
Damage Spread Into Neighboring Parishes
Downed power lines caused a traffic stoppage on Walker South Road between Cullen Road and Ben Jones Road. In Natalbany, a fallen tree crushed a residential home and a vehicle, the station's report noted.
Monday's outages occurred amid severe weather in Southeast Louisiana.
A Multibillion-Dollar Grid Hardening Push Continues
Entergy Louisiana says it is pursuing grid resilience work, according to Entergy Louisiana. Hoodline previously reported on regulators approving a related $198 million Entergy transmission line stretching through Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, and Washington parishes to bolster grid reliability.
Tangipahoa Parish is Louisiana's 10th-most populous parish, with an estimated 2025 population of 141,300, according to USAFacts. The parish has a higher share of residents under 18 than the United States, according to the same source. Residents are encouraged to keep their mobile phone and email contact information current for future alerts.
