The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Bossier Parish early Saturday morning.
The tornado traveled a total of 22 miles with a path width of 1,100 yards. The tornado reached speeds of 110 mph at its peak.
The storm began seven miles southwest of Shreveport in Caddo Parish and ended just one mile north of Princeton in Bossier Parish.
A child was killed in Haughton when a tree fell on the recreational vehicle in which she was sleeping in the Hill Crest Mobile Home & RV Park. She has been identified as Carli Ortiz, 20 months old.
“Please keep the Ortiz family in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with the tragic loss of young Carli,” said Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington.
Below is the survey summary provided by NWS:
A tornado touched down just west of 3132 along Dixie Boulevard where it uprooted a few trees. It continued east-northeast crossing 3132 breaking several large branches from trees. The tornado did roof damage to three hotels near the Monkhouse exit along I-20.
The tornado paralleled I-20 where it uprooted trees and damaged a few billboard signs. The tornado shifted north-northeast crossing Jewella Avenue near Jackson Street where it began to do significant tree damage in this area.
The tornado swelled to around 800 yards wide where it uprooted and snapped numerous trees along a 13 block path east-northeast to the vicinity of the intersection of Hearne Avenue and Lakeshore Drive.
The tornado continued northeast into downtown Shreveport doing sporadic tree damage before crossing the Red River into downtown Bossier City.
The tornado uprooted a number of trees and broke several large branches between Bossier High School and I-20. The tornado strengthened near the Heart of Bossier shopping center and Benton Road where it uprooted several trees as it headed east-northeast towards Pierre Bossier Mall.
It uprooted or snapped several trees along the south side of the mall and I-20 in this area. The tornado was able to knock down the top half of the east-facing wall of a strip mall on the north side of Pierre Bossier Mall.
The tornado shifted northeast where it paralleled the north side of East Texas Street where it continued to uproot and snap trees. There were a number of mobile homes that were damaged along East Texas Street/Highway 80 due to falling trees.
The tornado was at its weakest point as did sporadic tree damage as it crossed over I-220 near Louisiana Downs.
The tornado began to rapidly strengthen as it approached the Red Chute area where it knocked a large tree down onto a travel trailer in the Hillcrest Mobile Home Park, unfortunately killing a two year old infant.
The tornado did considerable tree damage as it crossed Bellevue Road just north of Highway 80, splitting trunks and uprooting trees as it reached its widest width, 1100 yards.
The tornado continued northeast paralleling Adner Road while doing significant tree damage in the northern sections of Country Place subdivision near Eastwood.
The tornado continued northeast doing more tree damage as it crossed Winfield Road west of the community of Princeton just west of Princeton Elementary School.
The tornado uprooted a few more trees north of Princeton along Highway 157 before lifting.
You forgot about Meadowview subdivision. Norris and Birdwell were hit
It also hit a few tress and the sign over at Boomtown Hotel and Casino
Kirsten Robicheauxx
Amber Raines Troy Floyd Devon Floyd
Jennifer Capetillo
Manon Deloach
Laura Wehrle
Blake Ogilvie
Prayers for all in our Town and cities. Very sad weekend.
Oh, no.
If that was EF-1 I don’t want to see anything stronger.
Looks like it basically took the same path as the December 3, 1978 tornado.
Exactly what I was thinking….
That’s what I told my daughter. Looked like it was same path as the Dec. ’78 tornado. Thank goodness it was not as strong. The ’78 tornado was classified F4
I was stationed at Barksdale when that tornado happened. In 1999 I was on the PD when the Benton Easter Tornado happened. That one was heartbreaking. Pat and I drove through Moore, Oklahoma a couple of months after the 2013 tornado. We stopped in a cemetery a few blocks away from where the school once stood. I am not ashamed to say I started to cry when I saw the fence that was turned into a memorial. We could have driven up to it but just couldn’t do it, so we paid our respects from the distance.
Steven, I was living on the base in ’78 and was teaching at Meadowview. My wing was the one closest to the street and took a direct hit. For several years after that our students took tornado drills very seriously. They had been affected twice – school and home. The National Guard was phenomenal in helping us as teachers to find our stuff buried under the rubble. We even rode in the back of one of their big trucks with all the textbooks we could find to our temporary place to continue teaching. Very sobering experience.
Now, I live on one of the streets that has been “featured” on the news with this latest tornado. I was awake and heard it going overhead. My neighborhood is wonderful in that yesterday it seemed everyone was out helping each other. In fact, cleanup started shortly after it passed – men with chainsaws were out clearing the streets of trees that had fallen across streets blocking them. Neighbors were already checking on each other – especially the ones whose houses had trees fall on them.
Avery Ortiz