A New Orleans man was in the bathroom when a tornado tore apart his house — and didn't realize it had hit until he stepped out, his son-in-law said

• A New Orleans man had no idea a tornado ripped through his house Wednesday because he was in the bathroom.
• His house was "torn to shreds," except for the bathroom, where he was, the man's son-in-law told NOLA.com.

A New Orleans man had no clue a tornado ripped through his house while he was in the bathroom, his son-in-law told NOLA.com.

Keith Eccles was painting a portrait of Mark Twain when a tornado ripped through his town of Gretna, Louisiana Wednesday, according to the NOLA.com report. Eccles said he was immediately worried about his father-in-law — who lives next door — when the storm began.

"It happened in seconds," he said to nola.com. "It was loud, and then it was silent."

According to Eccles, his father-in-law's house had been "torn to shreds," nola.com reported, except for the bathroom, which is where his father-in-law was when the tornado touched down.

"When he came out, he didn't realize what had happened," Eccles told nola.com.

Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson said in a post-tornado update Wednesday that at least 200 homes and businesses in the town had been damaged by the twister, with about 30 buildings requiring emergency demolition, Gretna Mayor Belinda Constant added.

Some families have been displaced by the storm, Constant said, adding that because power lines were knocked down, there is no electricity.

There were no reported deaths, Constant said, but there were at least three people who were injured and had to go to the hospital. Three people in total have been killed by the spate of serious storms that battered the New Orleans area this week.