February 7 event New Orleans East–Lake Borgne, Louisiana The tornado initially touched down along Old Gentilly Road to the east of the New Orleans
Industrial Canal. EF0 damage was noted at the beginning of the path as homes sustained minor roof damage. EF1 damage occurred near Wilson Avenue as a two-story motel had much of its poorly attached roof uplifted and sustained buckling of exterior walls on the second floor. The tornado moved northeastward, attaining high-end EF2 intensity by the time it reached the
Chef Menteur Highway (US 90). Metal power poles were bent, wooden power poles were snapped, a business was severely damaged, and an apartment complex sustained significant roof damage and collapse of a brick fascia exterior wall in this area. Damage surveys indicate that as the tornado continued on this northeastward track, it became multiple-vortex in structure, with a second circulation north of the first taking over as the predominant one. This second vortex, as the tornado did when it originally touched down, moved in a northeastward direction and produced EF2 damage near the Flake Street/Grant Avenue intersection. A small, poorly constructed home along Flake Street was rolled off of its cinder block foundation and completely destroyed, while nearby homes sustained shingle and porch damage. East of Crowder Boulevard, a continuous swath of mainly EF2 damage was noted as the now large and destructive tornado moved through residential areas, severely damaging numerous homes, many of which had their roofs ripped off. A few of these homes sustained some failure of exterior walls. Vehicles in this area were flipped and damaged, some of which were tossed into homes. On Arthur Drive and Charlene Drive, a small pocket of EF3 damage was noted as two homes lost most of their exterior walls, and had one or two of their interior walls collapse due to winds estimated by the NWS to have been around . Along Grant Street, Schaumburg Elementary School sustained minor roof damage and broken windows as it was impacted by the outer edge of the circulation. Children inside the school took shelter in an interior hallway as the tornado struck and were not injured. Just east of this point, a large area of mid-range EF3 damage was observed. This damage was confined to an area along and just north of Grant Street between Read Boulevard and Chalmark Drive, where dozens of homes lost much to all of their roof structures and sustained collapse of multiple exterior walls. Large, two-story brick homes had only one or two interior corner walls left standing on their top floors, and a two-story apartment building sustained total roof loss and collapse of numerous second floor walls, with some collapse of first floor exterior walls noted as well. It was determined that the tornado reached peak its intensity in this area, with winds estimated at . The tornado then caused high-end EF2 damage further to the east as it moved through additional residential areas. Many homes in this area had roofs torn off and sustained some collapse of exterior walls. A second small area of mid-range EF3 damage was noted near Hauck Drive, where a large church was left with only one exterior wall standing, and sustained total collapse of most interior walls. Winds at this location were again estimated around . NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility suffered more than $1 million in damage. At the time, it was the strongest tornado to strike the
New Orleans metropolitan area. However, it would be surpassed on
March 22, 2022 by a
high-end EF3 tornado, which killed one person and injured multiple others as it caused considerable damage in
Arabi. ==See also==