BATON ROUGE — Thunderstorms packing gale-force winds raked southern Louisiana on Monday afternoon, knocking trees onto home or across roadways, and leaving thousands without power before charging off to the east.

Pat's Fisherman's Wharf, a popular seafood restaurant at Henderson, reported heavy damage. It posted several videos to its Facebook page saying "We got hit real bad by the tornado."

Trees were reported on homes in Prairieville and south of Walker, and fell across parts of Interstate 10 in far western West Baton Rouge Parish. The damage in Ascension and Livingston parishes was reported after a tornado warning was posted for a storm rolling out of southeastern East Baton Rouge Parish.

How nasty is the wind tonight in Zachary?

The wind was so strong it blew our basketball hoop down… and then back up again.@WBRZ @WAFB @theadvocatebr @VivintHome #LAwx pic.twitter.com/DXAucF8Xwe

— Chris Yandle, Ph.D. (@ChrisYandle) May 14, 2024

@WAFB @WBRZ
Zachary, La

#stormdamage pic.twitter.com/JkRiak20js

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Street flooding was reported in Denham Springs after torrential rain fell. 

As of 9:45 p.m. Monday, there were two reported deaths, one in St. Martin Parish and the other in West Baton Rouge Parish. 

Erwinville reported a thunderstorm wind gust of 63 mph at its community center. In East Feliciana Parish, most roads are blocked completely by trees and powerlines. Several trees were down in both West Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes. 

The National Weather Service posted a high wind warning for regions behind the initial line of storms, as winds raced into the area. Wind gusts topped 60 mph in much of the region, including a 62 mph report at Baton Rouge Metro Airport.