Tornadoes reported in Alabama, Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS, March 9 (UPI) -- An apparent tornado hit near Mobile, Ala., Wednesday morning, a fire official said.

Lena Phillips of the Theodore, Ala., fire department told CNN the windstorm caused extensive damage to several businesses.

John Kilcullen of the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency told the Mobile Press-Register, "We're fairly fortunate that the damage at this point is relatively light."

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area at 9:40 a.m. (10:40 a.m. EST).

Earlier Wednesday, three suspected tornadoes hit the New Orleans area the morning after Mardi Gras, the National Weather Service said.

The Slidell Police Department said a tornado crossed Interstate 12 in Lacombe at 4:50 a.m., The New Orleans Times Picayune reported. A roof was torn off a house in Lacombe at 4:57 a.m.

In St. Tammany Parish, an emergency manager said one person was injured, a trailer was destroyed and a house was damaged at 5:20 a.m. by a possible tornado.

A rain-wrapped tornado was reported moving into Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner at 6:12 a.m., and the New Orleans Armstrong International Airport measured a wind gust of 77 mph at 6:30 a.m.

Tornado warnings were issued for Jefferson and St. Charles parishes.

The Entergy utility reported power outages in parts of St. John the Baptist, Jefferson and Orleans parishes.

Severe thunderstorms, with tornadoes reported, began Tuesday in northeastern Texas and moved into Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi overnight, AccuWeather reported.

Tornadoes will continue to be a threat as the storms advance through the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama and Georgia Wednesday.