Damage is seen along Schoolhouse Road after a tornado moved through area in Killona, La., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. (Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:56 PM PT – Thursday, December 15, 2022

Tornados in Louisiana have wreaked havoc and killed three in the Pelican State.

On Tuesday night, a string of catastrophic storms accompanied by thunderclaps, bright lightning and heavy downpours tore across the northwest part of Louisiana leaving many residents shattered. The area is still recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021.

On Wednesday, following the devastating storms, Governor John Bel Edwards (D-La.) proclaimed a State of Emergency.

After meeting with local authorities and touring the affected areas, Edwards arranged a press conference. During it, he stressed that it is estimated that the slow-moving storms could dump 3-5 inches in upcoming hours, which would result in the poor drainage or creek flooding.

“The most severe threat to Louisiana is in the Southwest portion of the state, where recovery from Hurricane Laura and the May flooding is ongoing,” the governor said. “In this area heavy rain and flash flooding are possible.”

Additionally, the governor’s office is advising those who have suffered storm damage to report their damages and any pertinent details at a particular portal. He also insisted that Louisiana residents should stay alert and find a way to receive weather alerts.

As of Thursday, the tornado has taken the life of three people. The first reported victims were 30-year-old Yoshika A. Smith and her 8-year-old son Nikolus. They resided in Caddo Parish. Another woman was found deceased in Killona, a small neighborhood in St. Charles Parish. According to a report from the Union Parish Sheriff’s office, around 20 people are currently hospitalized. Some are critically injured.

The post Deadly tornados ravage Louisiana first appeared on One America News Network.

A man walks a dog in front of the Governor’s mansion in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 7, 2020. (Photo by RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:25 PM PT – Thursday, December 15, 2022

The U.S. House has passed a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to hold its first binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain independence on Thursday.

Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) commented on the subject.

“It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Grijalva.

The bill passed 233-191 with some Republican support. If voters on the island are to approve it, Congress would be committed to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state. Voters, however, do have the choice to vote for outright independence or independence with free association. The terms for that would be outline following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar.

This proposal has exasperated many people on the island which already has held seven non-binding referendums on its status with no overwhelming majority on any of them. The last of which was in November 2020 with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against.

Puerto Rican attorney, Pablo Jose Hernandez Rivera, said that approval of the bill by the House would be “inconsequential” like previous bills of 1998 and 2010.

“We Puerto Ricans are tired of the fact that the New Progressive Party has spent 28 years in Washington spending resources on sterile and undemocratic status projects,” Rivera said.

 The bill will now go to a split Senate where it would need to be passed before the end of the year deadline.

The post Puerto Rico status being changed first appeared on One America News Network.