A violent tornado threw a house containing an entire family into the street when it barrelled through Louisiana.
The storm ripped the one-story home from its cinderblock piers in a suburb of New Orleans.
Neighbors spotted an empty wheelchair on the curb, prompting a search for the owner – a disabled girl who needs a respirator.
She was still in the house after her parents escaped the rubble.
Witness Chuck Heirsch dialed 911 after seeing the family frantically trying to get to their daughter.
He said: ‘I saw the house and I saw my neighbor trying to get his daughter out of there.
‘They were screaming. His wife was hysterical. They were already traumatized from taking that “Wizard of Oz” ride.’
A team of firefighters and first responders were able to successfully carry the girl out of the house in a blanket.
She was hospitalized but is ‘doing fine,’ according to St Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis.
At least one person died in the tornado Tuesday night, McInnis said.
Authorities said a 26-year-old man who lived in Arabi that was found dead outside of his home.
His identity and the circumstances of his death have not yet been made public. Several others had been hospitalized and treated for more minor injuries.
A series of serious storms passed through the southern US early this week, hitting the New Orleans area particularly hard on Tuesday.
St Bernard Parish and Arabi were both hit particularly hard by the storm. Much of southern Louisiana is still recovering from Hurricane Ida, the devastating Category 4 storm that hit the region last August.
The storm front brought heavy rain and powerful winds to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Around 5 million people in the region were under some kind of weather warning at one point, according to the National Weather Service.
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