ARABI, Louisiana — The National Weather Service said Tuesday's EF3 tornado was the most powerful on record in the New Orleans area.
Arabi, in St. Bernard Parish, was the most heavily damaged.
"To see it like it is right now, and two days ago were all just walking this neighborhood, is crazy,” said Taquari Hatch.
He and his wife were thankful they lived to walk another day.
They sought shelter with four kids as the twister, with winds around 160 miles per hour, touched down.
"By the time we sat down on our bathroom floor, no more than 10 seconds later, it got real,” said Hatch.
Hurricane Katrina wiped out much of Arabi in 2005.
But this tornado was far less predictable and left homes like that of 25-year-old Connor Lambert with little more than a slab.
"They found him about three lots down," said neighbor Mike Baiamonte. "Also saw pieces of the house about three houses away.”
KHOU 11 was told Lambert was a former high school football star and current NASA employee.
He died along with his pet dog.
The house across the street from Baiamonte was Lambert’s first and final home.
"My cameras picked up him turning on the porch light about 7:30 and some change," said Baiamonte. "And, after that, we came to hunker down in the closet, came outside and the house was gone." "So it wasn’t much time.”
Tragedy accompanies most disasters like this. But, in the New Orleans area, so does resilience.
"It’s a close-knit community and I feel good from talking to everyone about, you know, how we’ll bounce back,” said Hatch.
It's something they know, from experience, will take time.
Power restoration is a major priority right now as many volunteers also arrived in the area to provide food, water and other supplies.