WGNO

Cup of kindness following tornado

NEW ORLEANS — The National Weather Service confirms an EF-0 tornado tore across Orleans Parish early Wednesday morning.

The tornado reached Algiers seven minutes after it first touched down in the Carrollton neighborhood.

Since the storm, power and clean up crews have been hard at work.

Amid the bustle of chainsaws and power crews, there was a sense of calm on the corner of Pine and Cohn Streets.

The Silver family who lives on the corner found a way for the workers to forget, even for a moment, what Mother Nature brewed.

“Everybody was up all night from the crazy wind so I was like, I’m exhausted. These workers must be very exhausted. They were here at around 5 am so I thought, why not get everyone some coffee,” said Chaya Silver.

Silver’s pop up coffee stand brought a smile to the workers who are pulling long shifts to make sure neighborhoods are safe to return to.

“We’re just so thankful,” Silver said. “They’re working pretty quickly.”

The Silver’s home received minor damage.

Nearby, a massive tree fell on several cars and took out power lines. Across Orleans Parish, dozens of homes received minor to moderate damage.

“We’re lucky people were not hurt which is a big deal,” said Ramsey Green, Deputy CAO of Infrastructure.

Emergency notifications played a role in keeping people safe, but some ignored the alerts.

“I thought oh, it’s going to be like the earlier one. It really doesn’t mean anything,” said Theon Wilson. “The next time, I will definitely respond because I know something is going on with Mother Nature.”

The clean up process is likely to take a week to complete.

“Hopefully the coffee will give them enough energy to finish the job,” Silver said.