From: clarinews@clarinet.com (STEVE WATSKY)
Newsgroups: biz.clarinet.sample,clari.news.disaster,clari.local.texas,clari.news.weather,clari.news.urgent
Subject: At least 33 hurt as Hurricane Andrew hits Louisiana, spawning tornadoes
Keywords: severe weather, trouble, municipal goverment, government,
	general weather, weather
Date: 26 Aug 92 09:53:03 GMT
Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample
X-Supersedes: <andrewU2aQ445pc@clarinet.com>
Location: texas
ACategory: national
Slugword: andrew
Priority: regular
Format: breaking
ANPA: Wc: 915; Id: z1654; Sel: txnbw; Adate: 8-26-445acd; Ver: 16/11; V: ld
Codes: ynbwbtx., yngcbtx., ynwwbtx., xxxxxxxx
Note: urgent
 (complete writethru -- updating storm coordinates; new tornado reported;
 estimating cost of florida damage)


	LAFAYETTE, La. (UPI) -- Hurricane Andrew's deadly 120 mph winds roared
ashore on deserted marshes southwest of Morgan City early Wednesday,
spawning at least two tornadoes -- including one that injured some 33
people at LaPlace.
	Andrew, the most dangerous hurricane to hit the United States since
Camille killed 256 people in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969, killed
16 people in Florida and the Bahamas Sunday and Monday, leaving a $15
billion to $20 billion path of destruction before turning toward the
Gulf states.
	When officials total up all the damage, they expect Andrew to be the
costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
	Andrew's eye came ashore in Louisiana about 25 miles west-southwest
of Morgan City early Wednesday morning.
	At 4 a.m. CDT, forecasters put the storm's eye near latitude 29.7
degrees north and longitude 91.7 degrees west, or about 105 miles west
of New Orleans.
	The hurricane's forward speed had dropped to about 12 mph, with
highest sustained winds tapering off slightly, from 140 mph early
Wednesday to about 115 mph by 4 a.m. -- downgrading Andrew from a
Catagory 4 storm to a Catagory 3. Forecasters expected further weakening
throughout Wednesday, as Andrew moved inland.
	Hurricane warnings remained in effect at 4 a.m. CDT from Grand Isle,
La., westward to Bolivar Peninsula, Texas, but forecasters expected to
discontinue them later Wednesday.
	At 2 a.m. CDT, the National Hurricane Center cancelled the hurricane
warning east of Grand Isle, as well as a hurricane watch west of Bolivar
Peninsula.
	Still, forecasters called for storm surges of 10 to 15 feet and up to
10 inches of rain in some areas affected by Andrew.
	The hurricane spawned one tornado at La Place, where a twister
touched down at at least six known spots, wrecking a block of homes and
injuring at least 33 people.
	Rose McDuffie, a spokeswoman for LaPlace Parishes Hospital, said
three of the wounded remained hospitalized, two in critical condition
with head injuries and the third in stable condition.
	State Police Sgt. Ed Holzendorf said the twister left ``one whole
block of homes completely totalled -- I mean flattened.''
	Authorities continued searching wrecked homes for more injured. 
	Officials also reported a second tornado at Plaquemine, but had no
early reports of casualties or major damage.
	Throughout the coastal area, some 43,000 customers had already lost
power by late Tuesday night.
	President Bush declared Louisiana a disaster area at 1:45 a.m. CDT,
making federal rebuilding funds available.
	In Morgan City, most of the community's 15,000 residents had already
evacuated early Tuesday -- hours before the storm hit.
	``We're expecting the worst and hoping for the best,'' Mayor Cedrick
LaFleur said.
	Gov. Edwin Edwards predicted ``some very serious consequences'' for
Morgan City if Andrew's most intense wind and rain hit the community,
because the city sits in a low area surrounded by marshes and sugar cane
fields.
	In the Gulf itself, Grand Isle, a small community on a barrier island
south of New Orleans, was reported under 2 feet of water early
Wednesday, but many of the homes and other buildings there are built on
stilts.
	An estimated 1.8 million people were ordered or urged to evacuate
Louisiana's 11 coastal coastal parishes (counties), and thousands more
were evacuated in Texas from Sabine Pass, Port Neches, Port Arthur and
along Bolivar Peninsula.
	New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy said Tuesday the latest forecasts
appeared to indicate his city might be spared the brunt of Andrew's
fury, but cautioned residents the track could still change at the last
minute.
	``From all indications, it seems the storm is heading west,'' he
said. ``It seems we will be spared from getting a direct hit.''
	New Orleans, which sits below sea level with a population of more
than 600,000, is considered very vulnerable to a direct hit from a
hurricane, and an elborate protection system has been built to protect
it.
	Tuesday night, Gov. Edwards activated 1,700 members of the Louisiana
National Guard to help evacuation efforts and prevent looting.
	Edwards also told the public: ``Let me urge everyone listening to
this not to attempt return back to the hurricane area at all until we
announced its safe to do so. There is a great propensity for tornadoes.''
	Earlier Tuesday, residents who did not evacuate staged massive runs
on bottled water, canned goods and batteries at local stores.
	In boarded-up Cocodrie, La., a fishing village, Hubert Dupre and his
family loaded up their possessions earlier Tuesday to drive inland.
	``I'm not expecting anything when I come back,'' Dupre said.
	One of the first sagas of survival came Tuesday, when a Coast Guard
helicopter rescued four people and two dogs from a disabled 65-foot
fishing vessel in the Gulf, 50 miles south of Houma, La. They were
reported in good condition.
	The Coast Guard said it closed a 250-mile stretch of the Mississippi
River between Southwest Pass and Baton Rouge to ship traffic at 10 a.m.
Tuesday.
	The American Red Cross was rushing disaster relief personnel and
truckloads of supplies to a staging area in Jackson, Miss. The agency
opened 38 shelters in Louisiana, eight in Texas and two in Mississippi.
Xref: sparky biz.clarinet.sample:2292 clari.news.disaster:144