The morning after a EF-3 tornado tore through New Orleans and its surrounding areas on Tuesday night, a horrifying discovery was made by neighbours in the small town of Alabi, Louisiana. Connor Lambert, 25, was identified as the man who was killed in the storm that levelled homes and flipped cars throughout the region.
Neighbours told local news outlet KSLA that they’d seen Mr Lambert drive home the night of the storm and leave his truck parked in the garage before it made landfall. When they emerged minutes after the tornado tore down their street, they were horrified to see that both his home and truck had been lifted up from where they’d stood not long before.
“It was a horrifying scene, a very unfortunate situation,” Cole Baiamonte told the news outlet.
Mr Lambert, a high school football player who was well known in the tight-knit community, was determined to have been killed after his home was picked up from its stilts and landed on top of another home on his block.
The truck, which had been tucked into the garage the night before, was found wrapped around the tree the next morning.
News broke of the 25-year-old’s death, who was found buried amid his uprooted home with his pet dog, brought neighbours and friends to tears as they described the devastating loss of a man, as one person told CBS news, who was “always smiling”.
“Connor was the youngest son from an incredible family with deep roots in our school and community,” Doris Voitier, the superintendent of the public schools in the area, told KSLA in an interview. “We are heartbroken for Connor’s passing and want them to know how deeply we all feel this loss …We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and to all of those who loved him.”
The superintendent described to the local news outlet how the young man was a “tremendous student-athlete” when he played football for Chalmette High School and how he’d already gone on to accomplish great feats in his cut-too-short life.
“Connor also had a distinguished college career, graduating with a degree in engineering. Most recently, he was working with NASA at the Stennis Space Center,” Ms Voitier said during her interview with the outlet.
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after tornadoes ripped through New Orleans and the surrounding areas and devastated the region.
