New Orleans, February 8 (RHC)-- Powerful tornadoes have torn through the southeastern U.S. state of Louisiana, leaving more than a dozen people injured and causing severe damage to homes and buildings.

At least six tornadoes ripped through the U.S .state on Tuesday, wreaking havoc in New Orleans and five other cities, with houses wiped from their foundations and power lines downed.  City officials said some 10,000 homes were without power and there are reports of gas leaks in the area.  The Louisiana governor has declared a state of emergency following the severe storms.

Emergency respondents in the southeastern U.S. state said the twisters had left 13 people with minor injuries and two others with major ones, but no fatalities were reported.  National Weather Service (NWS) said in a posting on Twitter that the tornado was moving east and called on residents to "take shelter immediately."

Meanwhile, NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans also reportedly sustained extensive damage in the wake of the Tuesday tornado.

An estimated 2.7 million people in parts of Louisiana were at the highest risk of severe weather, according to the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.