New Orleans tornado kills one, injures 19

NEW ORLEANS, Feb 13 (Reuters) One person was killed and at least 19 people were injured today when a tornado swept through New Orleans neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

The lone death was an 86-year-old woman living in a government-provided trailer in the Gentilly section, which was badly flooded by the August 2005 storm, New Orleans police superintendent Warren Riley said.

The New Orleans Emergency Operations Center said 19 people were taken to local hospitals with tornado-related injuries.

Riley said police and firefighters were searching for other victims.

The storm damaged numerous buildings, pushed over trees and, according to electric utility Entergy Corp., knocked out power to as many as 29,000 customers.

Electricity was expected to be fully restored by mid-afternoon, the emergency center said.

Mayor Ray Nagin, after touring the newly-damaged areas, declared an emergency and told Reuters the tornado was another setback for New Orleans, which has less than half its pre-storm population of 500,000.

''For the city, it's a bad thing, because it further unnerves everybody that's trying to recover from Katrina,'' he said.

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