New Orleans Tornado Video Shows Ferocious Twister Tear Through Neighborhood

Videos showing the ferocity of a tornado that struck Louisiana on Tuesday, killing one person, have begun going viral on social media.

One video, which can be viewed here, shows the powerful twister racing through the Arabi and Lower Ninth Ward neighborhoods of New Orleans.

Meteorologist Scot Pilié posted the video to his Twitter page and it has been viewed over 620,000 times.

"Heartbreaking scene from New Orleans Metro. Significant damage reported in Arabi/Lower Ninth Ward. Clint, Chalmette looking towards Arabi," Pilié wrote in a caption.

In the footage, the person recording and a woman are standing on a porch as the ominous, dark gray twister rips behind neighboring homes.

Debris can be seen whirling around in the tornado and occasional flashes of bright light can also be seen. It is not clear whether these are lightning strikes or the tornado making contact with power lines.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann said one person had been killed.

This video is one of many recorded on Tuesday night in the New Orleans area.

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed at 7:32 p.m. that "a large and extremely dangerous tornado" was moving at a speed of 45 miles per hour over Arabi, a community located east of New Orleans near Chalmette. At 7:45 p.m., the service confirmed a large tornado was located "near New Orleans."

"Mobile homes will be destroyed," the service said in its alert. "Considerable damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles is likely and complete destruction is possible."

Another video showed a group of people watching the tornado from a doorway and commenting on its immense size. The video has also been viewed over 100,000 times.

The people question whether the tornado is heading towards them and react with shock when they see sparks of light from the tornado.

Towards the end of the video, the tornado appears to come in contact with a power pole as the lights of the building they were at suddenly go out.

Videos of the destruction caused by the tornado in Arabi have also begun emerging on social media.

One video showing the devastation was posted by Fox 8 Nola reporter David Jones and has been viewed over 40,000 times.

In the footage, debris can be seen strewn all over the streets, with some roofs of buildings partially damaged. Power lines also appear to have been pulled down by the twister.

Another video, which has also been viewed over 40,000 times, shows that some buildings took significant damage from the tornado.

As the person recording walks through a destroyed neighborhood, they remark that a building, now with half its side destroyed, used to be a church.

The footage also showed that other roofs were damaged and street lamps knocked down by the tornado.