Here is the official National Weather Service Lake Charles statement on Tuesday's tornado:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1029 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2009

...FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE AUGUST 18TH BEAUMONT TORNADO...

THE NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM HAS COMPLETED ITS INSPECTION OF THE
DAMAGE LEFT IN THE WAKE OF A TORNADO WHICH TOUCHED DOWN IN THE
NORTHWEST PORTION OF BEAUMONT. THE STORM SPAWNED A FUNNEL WHICH
EVENTUALLY TOUCHED DOWN IN A FIELD NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF DOWLEN
ROAD AND OLD DOWLEN ROAD NEAR PARKDALE MALL. THE STORM CONTINUED
TO THE NORTHEAST...TOPPLING A LIGHT POLE AND LARGE METAL SHED IN
THE PARKING LOT OUTSIDE THE KOHLS DEPARTMENT STORE ON DOWLEN ROAD
BEFORE SHEARING OFF A PORTION OF THE ROOF AND BLOWING IN THE FRONT
DOORS OF THE KOHLS STORE. AS THE STORM REACHED THE WAL-MART ON DOWLEN...
FOUR VEHICLES WERE OVERTURNED AND DOZENS OF OTHERS DAMAGED IN THE
STORE PARKING LOT. A PORTION OF THE WAL-MART STORE ROOF WAS ALSO
TORN OFF. THE STORM CONTINUED NORTHEAST ACROSS BARNES AND NOBLE
BOOKSTORE AND PETCO...DAMAGING THE STORE FACADES. AS THE STORM REACHED
PARKDALE MALL...IT CAUSED SLIGHT DAMAGE TO THE MALL...PARTICULARLY
TO THE WINGS INCLUDING THE MACYS AND DILLARDS STORES ON THE WEST
END OF THE MALL. THE TORNADO ALSO CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE FACADE OF
THE EAST SIDE OF THE MALL NEAR BOOKS A MILLION AND THE CHANNEL 4
STUDIOS AND FINALLY CAUSED DAMAGE TO A NUMBER OF VEHICLES ON THE EAST
PARKING LOT OF THE MALL. THE TORNADO LIFTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF
THE MALL BEFORE REACHING THE EASTEX FREEWAY.

FINAL STATISTICS ON THIS STORM INCLUDE...
STORM STRENGTH: EF1
APPROXIMATE WINDS: 100-110 MPH
STORM LENGTH: 1 MILE
STORM WIDTH: 100 YARDS

$$

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
955 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2009

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0157 PM TORNADO 3 NW BEAUMONT 30.11N 94.18W
08/18/2009 F1 JEFFERSON TX NWS STORM SURVEY

*** 10 INJ *** TORNADO OCCURRED IN BEAUMONT AROUND THE
WEST END AND PARKDALE MALL AREA. NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND
TORNADO DAMAGE BEGINNING JUST WEST OF KOHLS DEPARTMENT
STORE AND EXTENDING TO THE EAST PARKING LOT OF PARKDALE
MALL...WITH A PATH LENGTH OF ONE MILE AND WIDTH OF 100
YARDS. DAMAGE TO ROOFS OF SEVERAL DEPARTMENT STORES. FOUR
CARS FLIPPED OVER AND DAMAGE TO DOZENS OF OTHERS.


The National Weather Service tells KBMT News the tornado that touched down in West Beaumont's busy retail district Tuesday afternoon was an EF1 with winds of at least 100 mph.

Montra Lockwood with the NWS says the tornado likely started at Kohl's and moved to Wal-Mart before finally hitting the Parkdale Mall area. She says the entire event probably lasted less than five minutes.

Lockwood said the twisted nature of the damage and the fact the storm flipped cars was enough evidence to classify the storm as an EF1.

Here is additional information from KBMT 12 News:

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/KBMT12

Officials say portions of WalMart's roof collapsed, while aerial video of Kohls department store seen first on KBMT12 showed a large piece of the roof also collapsed. Shoppers in both stores were evacuated as injured staff and customers were tended to by EMS.

Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth says they received 10 patients as a result of the storm, most of whom had minor cuts and abrasions. Jackie Conger with Christus says none of the injuries appeared to be life threatening.

Walmart officials tell KBMT they do not expect to reopen Wednesday, as a good portion of the store suffered some flooding and roof damage. There is no word as to how long Kohls will be closed, as the front doors of the building were also blown in. Witnesses also say Macy's at Parkdale Mall was also damaged as were Petco and Barnes & Noble.

There were also at least a dozen vehicles damaged in the parking lots at the two stores, with at least six flipped onto their roofs.

Check www.kbmt12.com for updates to this story as they become available.