NWS Confirms Tornado Touchdowns in Shreveport Area

SHREVEPORT, LA - The National Weather Service has confirmed 6 tornadoes touched down in the Shreveport area during the Sunday night storms. Two of these tornades hit in southwest Arkansas. Three of them touched down in northern Bossier Parish and one impacted southwest Shreveport.

NWS Meteorologist Jason Hansford says the first tornado roared across southwest Shreveport near the Dean Road and Cedar Creek area. This was an EF1 tornado packing winds of 95 miles per hour.

Hansford says it stayed on the ground for about 3 miles and did some damage to a weight training room at Southwood High School. There was also some minor damage at Summer Grove Baptist Church (the old Southpark Mall) and Centuries Memorial Cemetery.

There was also major damage to a roof of an apartment building on the north side of the city just north of Interstate 220 along North Market Street, but this was far removed from the above tornado path and was determined to have resulted from straight line winds.

Where Were the Tornadoes in Bossier Parish?

Hansford says there were 3 tornadoes in north Bossier Parish. They were centered near Plain Dealing. Two of them were EF0 storms with winds of 85 miles per hour. The third was an EF1 with winds of 95 miles per hour. Damage from these storms is widespread.

Two other storms touched down in southwest Arkansas in Lafayette County.

Cleanup continues today. Swepco says about 10,000 people are still in the dark. They will be working hard today to get the power restored. Estimated time of restoration is 10pm Wednesday night, but that is the worst case scenario.