A devastating tornado ripped through Louisiana on Wednesday morning, causing destruction in its wake. The twister, later classified as an EF-2 tornado with winds of 115 miles per hour, tore through Lake Charles and wreaked havoc on buildings and homes in the area.
One of the most harrowing scenes caught on camera was the destruction of Jamie Meiburg’s Library Riot bar. Just moments before the tornado hit, two nurses who had just finished their shift at a nearby hospital were sitting in the front of the bar, enjoying a drink. But as the wind picked up and the front door blew open, Meiburg knew he had to act fast.
In a matter of seconds, Meiburg pulled the two patrons to safety just before the tornado blew the front wall of the bar in. The security footage captured the intense 20 seconds of terror as the tornado roared through the area, making the walls and windows of the bar shake violently. The sound of the twister, often described as a “freight train,” could be heard as it passed through.
“It was very, very intense. At first, the door blew open pretty violently. So I ran to, to close it,” bar owner Jamie Meiburg told FOX Weather. “I’ve been through a few Category 2 (hurricanes), and the wind was very, very similar in strength. So by the time I closed the door and bolted it, the windows and the bricks shook violently.”
Despite the chaos and destruction, Meiburg considers himself fortunate. The bar was only recently reopened after being destroyed by Hurricane Laura in 2020. And this time, his home was also damaged by the same tornado. But he remains optimistic and is grateful that the damage was relatively manageable compared to the devastation caused by the hurricane.
For Meiburg, this is not his first experience with severe weather. He had lost his previous bar to Hurricane Laura and had just opened the Library Riot bar three weeks before it was destroyed. Now, he’s facing another setback, but he remains determined to get the bar up and running again as soon as possible.
Despite the damage to his home and business, Meiburg hopes to reopen the bar in just one week. He plans to add a standard wall and complete the full remodel in 45 to 60 days. And while the two-year anniversary of the bar was on April 27, Meiburg is planning to have a belated celebration once the remodel is complete.
