Power Outage in Ruston, LA

A tree was blown down onto a power line on Highway 146 near Woods Road just west of the Vienna community.

An EF-3 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 145 mph touched down just northeast of the intersection of Highway 80 and Highway 818 where several trees were uprooted. It continued northeast, crossing South Maple Street where the tornado intensified, resulting in widespread tree damage just south of Highway 3012 along Wade Drive, Lind Drive, Robert Street, University Boulevard, and Shelor Drive. Many of these streets were impassable due to the significant number of trees snapped, twisted, and uprooted. Many more trees were downed on Highway 3012 before the tornado tracked northeast towards Westwood Drive. It uprooted a number of trees onto fraternity houses before it crossed the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The tornado crossed the railroad and bent or uprooted several large light poles on Louisiana Tech's softball, baseball, and neighboring athletic fields. It snapped a number of power poles as well. The tornado crossed Tech Drive and damaged a number of dormitories where it removed their metal roofs and blew out windows. It continued northeast where it uprooted more trees on Louisiana Tech's and Ruston High School's campuses. The estimated winds as the tornado tore through the western and northern sections of Louisiana Tech University ranged from 115-130 mph. The tornado crossed Greenwood Cemetery where it intensified again, resulting in a large number of trees being debarked with just the stubs of the large branches remaining in several areas. It continued with several business sustaining significant damage to their exterior brick walls and some interior walls. A hotel along Interstate 20 suffered the collapse of its top story's exterior walls. The tornado continued on to severely damage a gas station between Trenton and Vienna Streets just south of I-20, before crossing the interstate and weakened slightly but still resulted in considerable roof damage to several businesses along North Service Road East. The tornado then began to weaken, with more sporadic wind damage noted as it moved northeast towards Farmerville Highway. It crossed Farmerville Highway near Timberline Court uprooting a number of trees and continued northeast towards Haddox Road. The tornado then lifted and touched back down a few more times with the intermittent damage noted for the rest of its path. It uprooted a few more trees along Stable and Baxter Roads, destroyed a chicken house along Highway 820, before finally lifting just south of Oak Tree Road. The tornado resulted in two fatalities when a tree fell through their home, killing a 35 year old female and her 14 year old son just south of Interstate 20 in Ruston.||The Louisiana State Fire Marshal concluded that 22 buildings were destroyed by the tornado, 154 buildings sustained major damage, with 254 buildings receiving minor damage in the city of Ruston. The Louisiana Tech University campus had 16 buildings that could not be occupied, with the softball, baseball, and soccer fields, as well as 2 dormitories, suffering major damage. In all, approximately 1220 structures were affected by this tornado throughout Lincoln Parish.||Entergy Power Company concluded that 35 power poles were broken throughout the city of Ruston, with numerous spans of power lines also downed. Given the extensive damage throughout the city of Ruston, mandatory curfews were enforced by the Ruston Police Department, Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Department, and the Louisiana State Police.

An EF-3 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 145 mph touched down just northeast of the intersection of Highway 80 and Highway 818 where several trees were uprooted. It continued northeast, crossing South Maple Street where the tornado intensified, resulting in widespread tree damage just south of Highway 3012 along Wade Drive, Lind Drive, Robert Street, University Boulevard, and Shelor Drive. Many of these streets were impassable due to the significant number of trees snapped, twisted, and uprooted. Many more trees were downed on Highway 3012 before the tornado tracked northeast towards Westwood Drive. It uprooted a number of trees onto fraternity houses before it crossed the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The tornado crossed the railroad and bent or uprooted several large light poles on Louisiana Tech's softball, baseball, and neighboring athletic fields. It snapped a number of power poles as well. The tornado crossed Tech Drive and damaged a number of dormitories where it removed their metal roofs and blew out windows. It continued northeast where it uprooted more trees on Louisiana Tech's and Ruston High School's campuses. The estimated winds as the tornado tore through the western and northern sections of Louisiana Tech University ranged from 115-130 mph. The tornado crossed Greenwood Cemetery where it intensified again, resulting in a large number of trees being debarked with just the stubs of the large branches remaining in several areas. It continued with several business sustaining significant damage to their exterior brick walls and some interior walls. A hotel along Interstate 20 suffered the collapse of its top story's exterior walls. The tornado continued on to severely damage a gas station between Trenton and Vienna Streets just south of I-20, before crossing the interstate and weakened slightly but still resulted in considerable roof damage to several businesses along North Service Road East. The tornado then began to weaken, with more sporadic wind damage noted as it moved northeast towards Farmerville Highway. It crossed Farmerville Highway near Timberline Court uprooting a number of trees and continued northeast towards Haddox Road. The tornado then lifted and touched back down a few more times with the intermittent damage noted for the rest of its path. It uprooted a few more trees along Stable and Baxter Roads, destroyed a chicken house along Highway 820, before finally lifting just south of Oak Tree Road. The tornado resulted in two fatalities when a tree fell through their home, killing a 35 year old female and her 14 year old son just south of Interstate 20 in Ruston.||The Louisiana State Fire Marshal concluded that 22 buildings were destroyed by the tornado, 154 buildings sustained major damage, with 254 buildings receiving minor damage in the city of Ruston. The Louisiana Tech University campus had 16 buildings that could not be occupied, with the softball, baseball, and soccer fields, as well as 2 dormitories, suffering major damage. In all, approximately 1220 structures were affected by this tornado throughout Lincoln Parish.||Entergy Power Company concluded that 35 power poles were broken throughout the city of Ruston, with numerous spans of power lines also downed. Given the extensive damage throughout the city of Ruston, mandatory curfews were enforced by the Ruston Police Department, Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Department, and the Louisiana State Police.

Several trees and power lines were downed along Highway 545 southeast of the Lisbon community.

Several trees and power lines were downed.

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds between 95-105 mph touched down south of Grambling near the intersection of Null and Mondy Roads. The tornado moved east along Mondy Road, turning northeast crossing Tennessee Avenue, and across the Ruston County Club and the south and southeast sections of Ruston snapping and uprooting trees and several wooden power poles along its path. As the tornado entered the southeast sections of Ruston, numerous trees were snapped, falling on homes and vehicles along Highway 167 and Love Avenue. Another tree was snapped and fell onto a car on McAllister Street, with additional trees snapped and uprooted onto homes, power lines, and vehicles on Terrill Drive and Lewis Street before lifting near the intersection of Lewis and Richardson Streets. ||A total of 99 conventional and manufactured homes were affected by this tornado throughout Lincoln Parish, with 39 of these classified as Affected, 34 with Minor Damage, 23 with Major Damage, and 3 as Destroyed.

A tree was blown down on a house. Trees and power lines were also reported down across the parish.

Trees and powerlines were downed at residences on Kens Landing Road. One tree fell through the roof of a home. There were no reports of injuries.

Powerlines were downed on Sunshine Road between La. 544 and 563 northeast of Simsboro, Louisiana.

Numerous trees and powerlines were downed throughout the parish. There were a few reports of trees downed on homes. A large tree was downed on top of the Bethel Christian School in Ruston, Louisiana. Another tree fell on top of a truck as it was heading north on La. Hwy. 818 towards U.S. Hwy. 80. There were no injuries reported.

Trees were downed across the entire parish including a few trees and powerlines downed near Hwy. 544 near Wafer.

Several large trees were downed on roads across the parish. Powerlines and light poles were also downed in the city of Ruston, Louisiana.

Powerlines downed resulting in power outages in Ruston, Louisiana.

Large tree limbs and powerlines were downed in Ruston, Louisiana.

Trees were downed and entangled in powerlines along Chandler Road.

Numerous trees and powerlines were downed throughout the city.

Tropical storm force winds downed several trees and power lines across Lincoln Parish during the height of the storm. Scattered power outages were also reported across Lincoln Parish. A tree fell on top of a home at 1308 Honeysuckle Lane in Ruston, Louisiana. Another tree fell across a home on Evans Street in Ruston. There were no report of injuries.

Tropical Storm force wind gusts resulted in numerous trees and power lines downed across the parish. Power outages were widespread across the parish as well. One tree fell across a home on West California Avenue in Ruston, Louisiana. There were no injuries reported.

Trees and powerlines were blown down near the Cedarton community.

Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down in town.

Powerlines were blown down near the Barnet Springs Community.

Power lines were blown down on the north side of town.

Powerlines downed in town.

Trees and power lines were downed.

Some of the northern Parishes in north Louisiana experienced their second ice storm in as many weeks while others who missed out on the first storm experienced widespread icing problems. Freezing rain accumulations ranged from 1/4 to near 1 inch mainly north of Interstate 20. The Shreveport - Bossier metroplex were not affected by this second storm but widespread power outages were reported across Minden, Homer, Arcadia, Farmerville, Ruston, and Monroe Louisiana. 50,000 residents lost power due to ice accumulations on power lines and fallen trees and snapped trees limbs broken power lines.

An artic airmass spilled southward out of the central plains and into the lower Mississippi Valley. This cold surface airmass was overrun by a warm and humid airmass which combined with a strong upper level storm system across west Texas. The result was widespread freezing rain. Ice accumulations on average of one inch were common north and west of a line from Mansfield and Arcadia to Farmerville LA. An estimated 235,000 residents lost power from snapped power lines. Upwards of 29 transmission lines atop "H" shaped steel towers were snapped due to the weight of the ice. One man was killed and another injured when a tree limb laden with ice fell on them. Numerous traffic accidents were reported from ice covered roads and bridges. In the Shreveport - Bossier metroplex more than 205 streets were either blocked or partially blocked by limbs and fallen trees. Much of northwest Louisiana was declared a disaster area.

Numerous trees and power lines toppled leaving up to 8500 customers without power as long as 4 days while power structures were rebuilt. Numerous vehicles were damaged and several fires broke out. A warehouse was also destroyed.

Numerous trees and power lines were felled and several utility poles were snapped. A gymnasium roof was removed from an elementary school along with heaters and vents.

Several trees and power lines down.

A strong upper level trough moved out of the southern Great Basin and into the Lower Mississippi Valley pulling Artic Air southward to the Gulf Coast. Moisture laden air from the Gulf of Mexico moved northward and overran freezing surface temperatures producing an ice storm across the region. Ice accumulations of one to four inches left upwards of 30,000 homes without power due to ice covered tree limbs which snapped and dropped powerlines. Bienville, Clariborne, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union and Webster parishes were declared disaster areas and became eligable for federal aid. Total area damage in these zones ran nearly 7 million dollars. Damage breakdown by individual Parish are not available through this source. Hundreds of chicken houses and carports collapsed from the weight of the ice and snow.

Numerous trees and powerlines toppled as line of thunderstorms moved across the region. Approximately 1500 people were without power. A pine tree snapped and crushed a carport and caved a portion of a roof into a house.

A strong closed upper low pressure system ejected northeast through the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle region during the afternoon and evening hours of March 16th, which helped mix a dry line east across Oklahoma and Texas. Ahead of this dry line, a broad warm and moist sector spread north across the Ark-La-Tex, which allowed for greater instability to overspread into the area ahead of this surface feature. A complex of showers and thunderstorms developed over West Texas during the late afternoon through the evening hours on the 16th, before advancing east across the state during the overnight and early morning hours of the 17th. Some of these storms remained severe as they moved through East Texas around and shortly after daybreak, where damaging winds downed trees and power lines before gradually weakening as they moved into Western Louisiana. However, some of these storms re-intensified and became severe during the early afternoon across portions of North-central Louisiana, where several trees were snapped and uprooted near Dubach in Lincoln Parish, with an isolated tornado also briefly touching down just west of Farmerville in Union Parish. These storms exited the region by mid-afternoon.

An upper level trough over Northern Mississippi drifted west into Southern Arkansas, Northern Louisiana, and extreme Northeast Texas during June 28th, which helped to ignite scattered showers and thunderstorms over Southcentral Arkansas and Northcentral Louisiana during the afternoon and evening hours with the aid of diurnal heating and ample low level moisture. An isolated severe thunderstorm developed over Eastern Union County Arkansas by mid-afternoon, which drifted south southwest into portions of Northcentral Louisiana. This storm produced damaging winds which downed a tree and power line near the Vienna community before diminishing in intensity during the evening.

A moist and unstable atmosphere prevailed across Northern Louisiana during the afternoon and evening hours of July 17th. During the late morning hours, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed across portions of Central Arkansas along a weak disturbance aloft. This disturbance moved southward during the day and continued to produce additional showers and thunderstorms along its southward trek. Some of these storms became strong to severe across Northern Louisiana and produced downed trees and power lines. The storms weakened during the late evening hours before dissipating during the overnight hours.

A shortwave trough dove southeast and interacted with a very unstable |airmass to result in strong to severe thunderstorms, mainly across |southern Arkansas and northeastern Louisiana. The most extensive |damage occurred around the city of Ruston, Louisiana, where numerous trees and powerlines were blown down. Several reports of nickel- to |golfball-sized hail were received in and around Ruston.

Storms developed during the afternoon of June 26th in a moist and|unstable air mass over the region. Several storms quickly strengthened |as an outflow boundary propagated northward across the area. In wake|of the boundary, several storms collapsed, resulting in quick downbursts |of wind. Severe thunderstorms knocked over several trees and disrupted|telephone and radio communications in and around the community of Jena.|Power poles were also toppled in Harrison County, Texas.