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Tangipahoa officials report tornado at East Fork, council waives permit fees for residents
Summary
Parish leaders described a tornado that touched down in the East Fork community in mid-March, causing property damage but no reported injuries; the council approved a temporary waiver of building and electrical permit fees for affected residents.
Parish President Miller reported that a tornado struck the East Fork community two Saturdays before the March 24 meeting, damaging dozens of structures but causing no reported injuries, and the Tangipahoa Parish Council voted to temporarily waive building and electrical permit fees for affected residents.
"About 12:30 in that afternoon, it touched ground there, went through East Fork," Parish President Miller said, recounting his site visits. He told the council the event affected "about 20 homeowners, 40 or so structures, 45 structures were damaged," and credited local first responders and community members with search and recovery efforts. "Incredibly not even an injury," he said.
At the March 24 meeting the council adopted Resolution 25-10 on a unanimous vote to temporarily waive electrical and building permit fees for East Fork residents to facilitate recovery work. The resolution directs Permits/Inspections to implement a fee-waiver process for construction, sewer and electrical work needed to restore damaged homes and infrastructure.
Miller said the parish waived permit fees to avoid adding administrative barriers while residents repaired homes and utilities. He described coordination with fire departments, sheriff's office, state police, and the state search team; Miller said crews had cleared debris from parish roads and were arranging for DOTD or contracted crews to remove remaining piles of storm debris.
Clarifying details recorded during the meeting note that debris removal was underway and that many affected property owners had insurance; the parish announced it would waive permit fees for construction, sewer and electrical permits to speed repairs. Officials also said they were working with state and local partners on debris removal and recovery logistics.
Ending: The council asked staff to implement the waiver quickly; follow-up administrative steps were assigned to the Permits/Inspections office to process East Fork applicants.
