Story highlights New Orleans mother strapped her daughter in a car seat as tornado ripped her trailer apart

Mother: "Like the trailer exploded and me and the baby went flying through the air"

(CNN) As the tornado flung her through the air, Amanda Stockfelt held tightly to her newborn daughter in a car seat, floating above in the vortex.

The New Orleans mother and her 8-week old Autumn survived the tornado that ripped apart trailers, peeled off roofs and damaged hundreds of properties in a roughly 2-mile path in an eastern New Orleans neighborhood on Tuesday.

Stockfelt recounted her few minutes of terror in an interview Thursday with HLN's Erica Hill. Some quick thinking, a mother's intuition, and panic may have saved her baby.

"All I could think of was don't let go of her car seat because if I let go of her car seat, I just knew the tornado was going to take her," Stockfelt said. "And I would never be able to find her."

The tornado that touched down in New Orleans was one of seven that carved a wide swath spanning at least six parishes in southeastern Louisiana, officials said. No one was killed in the storm system. More than 300 structures were damaged.

Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans People walk down a street in New Orleans after a tornado touched down in the eastern part of the city on Tuesday, February 7. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans Artie Chaney surveys the damage to her home in New Orleans. The tornado hit while she and her family took cover inside. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans A woman reacts to the damage caused in her neighborhood. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans An aerial view of destroyed and damaged homes. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans A man looks at the destruction as he talks on the phone. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans Gregory Rugon looks for his glasses at the spot where he took cover in his home. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans Across the street from her destroyed home, Claire White sits in a chair and talks on the phone next to her husband, Roy, and dog JD. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans A police officer walks through a damaged gas station along Chef Menteur Highway. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans A man talks on the phone amid the debris of a motel. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Tornado strikes New Orleans Eshon Trosclair holds her son Camron Chapital after a tornado tore through home while they were inside. Hide Caption 10 of 10

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