The National Weather Service in Lake Charles confirmed damage from high winds in Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes last week was from separate EF-1 tornadoes.

A 225-foot-wide tornado touched down near Jackson Gimnick Loop in Longville just after 5 p.m. on Jan. 24 and traveled 7.2 miles before lifting ahead of the Allen Parish line. Wind speeds from the tornado were captured at 100 mph.

“This tornado tracked mostly through open fields or forested areas,” Warning Coordination Meteorologist Doug Cramer told the American Press. “There were some homes and outbuildings damaged along Foreman Road and near Doug Addision Road.”

Cramer said a second tornado — which formed in Orange, Texas, at about 4:30 p.m. — traveled 11.19 miles into Louisiana and through Nibletts Bluff Park.

“The NWS and the Calcasieu Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness conducted a marine survey through the Sabine River Swamp area to examine whether or not the Orange tornado was continuous into Nibletts Bluff Park on the Louisiana side,” Cramer said. “The survey revealed that the tornado did remain intact and was continuous; therefore the tornado has been renamed as the ‘Orange-Calcasieu Tornado.’ “

Cramer said the tornado was on the ground for 25.6 miles.

“That is very impressive for a QLCS (quasi-linear convective system)-squall line tornado,” he said.

Crammer said the 900-foot-wide tornado damaged trees in Nibletts Bluff Park, then tracked along Wright Road.

“Several homes, RVs and mobile homes experienced heavy damage,” he said. “Two mobile homes were destroyed along with numerous trees snapped and uprooted.”

Crammer said the area along Wright Road experienced the strongest winds, estimated at 110 mph.

The tornado ultimately weakened northeast near the Sabine river Diversion System and lifted near the Big Woods area.