Gustnado damages RVs in Louisiana town struck by 2 hurricanes in 2020
RVs were flipped, shredded and tossed like toys after a gustnado hit Cameron, Louisiana, early Tuesday morning.
The rare weather event followed a severe thunderstorm overnight. Video taken on Tuesday showed RVs flipped over, with at least one destroyed. The National Weather Service confirmed that a gustnado with 80-mph winds touched down around 4 a.m. CDT and caused the damage. The local fire department rescued one person, but no fatalities were reported.
Cameron, a coastal community about 30 miles south of Lake Charles, is still rebuilding after being hit by two major hurricanes in 2020. Category 4 Hurricane Laura tracked just west of Hurricane Delta's landfall later that year. A wind gust of 127 mph was measured there during Laura's arrival.
A gustnado is a type of tornado that forms when the edge of the downdraft of a severe thunderstorm -- a gust front -- causes the air to spin, from the ground up.
A gustnado does not connect to a cloud. Generally weaker than supercell tornadoes, gustnadoes can reach speeds of 80 mph and cause serious damage.
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