Supercell!

Severe supercells – described in weatherman terms as a “mesocyclone,” a towering, rotating thunderstorm – ripped across southern Louisiana Friday afternoon and again Monday morning, leaving damage from freaky straightline winds and hail as large as baseballs.
There was a rural traffic fatality in St. Martin Parish, but it wasn’t related to the weather, authorities said. And a family home on Grand Bois Road was torn apart in Friday’s onslaught. Thousands of people were left without electric power and numerous huge oaks were felled. Two 18-wheelers were overturned on I-10 Friday.
The fatality occurred Monday afternoon when a driver, identified as Craig J. Huval, 55, of Broussard, ran off the road and into a coulee in the 1400 block of Duchamp Road.
According to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, Huval’s vehicle was submerged. He was the only occupant.
SMSO spokesperson Maj. Ginny Higgins said the accident is not considered weather-related, even though the coulee was swollen with rainwater, because the roadway was dry at the time of the accident.
Betty Robin, 69, lost her home Friday when strong wind and hail the size of golf balls pummelled the Grand Bois area of St. Martin Parish.
“All we heard was wind,” Robin told reporters. “Everything was breaking up.”
The Robins do not have insurance. Anyone willing to help the family recover from this disaster is urged to call Leona Robin at (337) 258-3149.
Parks Primary School, the Early Learning Center, the Juvenile Continuing Education Program (JCEP), Stephensville Elementary, and Ascension Episcopal School’s Downtown Campus remained closed Tuesday thus far.
Thousands were left without power – hundreds of thousands across the state – as Monday’s weather system swept across the state, famously toppling
two Union Pacific rail cars off the Huey P. Long Bridge.