HAMMOND — There will be extra police presence outside specific parts of Hammond after an EF-0 tornado touched down, according to Chief Edwin Bergeron.
“A tornado touched down in the City of Hammond on the west side of Hammond, kind of the southwest corridor. The damage has been limited to, we believe, some damage to a couple of vehicles in the parking lot at Lowe’s, as well as a business-type complex area, in which the front of a building was blown off,” Chief Bergeron said.
The National Weather Service has now confirmed it was an EF-0 tornado.
“Tornado began in a parking lot on West Thomas Street and traveled south-southwest for around 3 quarters of a mile. Damage was mostly to trees however, minor structural damage did occur. Tornado lifted along Saint Rd. Max estimated winds – 85 mph (EF-0) Max width – 40 yards Path length – 0.77 miles,” NWS said.
It was around 2:39 p.m. when viewers spotted a funnel cloud that appeared to drop around the Lowe’s & Super Walmart in Hammond, near Westin Oaks Drive.
Chief Bergeron tells UWK they have no reported injuries, but specific businesses like Lamar Advertising had severe damage. The entire front of the business blew off. “We’ll have security out here all night, kind of guarding the business because of the whole front of the building being ripped off,” the chief said.
“It made it through that area, flipped over a dumpster, and I guess it kind of dropped off from there. Good thing was, is it’s unoccupied being it was Labor Day. It’s a business kind of area, business complex area,” Chief Bergeron added. Had it not been Labor Day, the area would have had people working inside, as well as vehicles parked in the lots.
Some vehicles in the Lowe’s parking lot had their windows blown out, likely from the reported tornado.
Download the Unfiltered with Kiran app from the Apple App Store and Google Play to stay updated on the latest news across the Capital area.
Support UWK and its mission to deliver The News You Deserve. Unfiltered. Become a monthly patron on Patreon today!
