At least one person has died after a large tornado tore through New Orleans, destroying homes and taking out power.
Videos showed the dark funnel cloud ploughing through neighbourhoods on Tuesday night, blowing off rooftops and overturning cars.
The tornado was spawned by a storm system which caused widespread damage and killed a woman in Texas and Oklahoma on Monday.
Officials in the eastern St Bernard district said rescuers were searching for people who may be trapped after one person was killed and several injured.
"There are houses that are missing," local sheriff James Pohlmann told The New York Times. "One landed in the middle of the street, and there was somebody trapped in that house."
