Heavy storms swept across central and southern Louisiana Thursday, packing damaging winds, spawning reports of possible tornados and killing at least one person.

In the southern Louisiana town of Grosse Tete, a pecan tree fell onto a camper, killing a 77-year-old man who was alone inside it. In neighboring St. Martin Parish, a minor injury was reported in a house knocked off its blocks.

"From the first reports we believe it was a tornado that went through during the storm," said Maj. Ginny Higgins of the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Department.

Some schools canceled classes and there were reports of minor flooding throughout the region as already soaked earth could absorb no more rain. City workers in Hammond filled sand bags for people to use at home as heavy rain pounded the area.

The storm had winds over 45 mph and up to 4 inches of rain, said Jim Vasilj, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

There were reports of trees downed in parts of south Mississippi, which closed some roads briefly. In Louisiana, possible tornadoes were reported near Folsom and Pontchatoula, Vasilj said.

By noon, the worst of the stormy weather, which prompted flash flood watches, minor flooding in areas and slick conditions during morning drives, had moved out of Louisiana and south Mississippi.

Record-breaking rainfall began late Tuesday. In northwest Louisiana, officials reported more than 10 inches of rain deluged the Shreveport area, flooding at least 125 homes.

Golf ball-sized hail also was reported as a thunderstorm moved across southeast Louisiana, said Phil Grigsby, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"It's one of the most intense storms we've had down here in quite a few years," he said.

About 12,000 people in Louisiana were without power Thursday morning, Cleco Corp. spokeswoman Susan Broussard said. The utility hoped to have electricity restored Thursday, but it also was receiving reports of new outages after storms rolled across central Louisiana, she said.

At the height of the storm, about 18,000 customers of Southwestern Electric Power Co. lost power because of limbs and trees that fell on utility lines. By Thursday morning, that number was down to about 850 in Louisiana, with a concentration in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, spokesman Peter Main said.