NWS confirms EF-2 tornado Cass County; 1 hurt when tree falls on RV
First responders rescue boy trapped in home; motorists report vehicles being blown off highway
(KSLA) — The National Weather Service has confirmed that it was an EF-2 tornado that struck Cass County on Wednesday, June 14.
Winds reached a high of 120 MPH, uprooting trees and causing heavy damage to homes.
One person was injured during the severe weather, when a tree fell on his RV at Atlanta State Park in Atlanta, Texas. Emergency crews said with many trees downed in the park, it took time to reach the man who was trapped inside. Authorities said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. His wife was not injured.
“He happened to be sitting in his easy chair and that tree came down on that side and he was stuck in that chair,” said David Sellers, who was staying at the adjacent campsite.
Sellers and his wife rode the storm out inside their RV, which he said sustained minor damage.
“It was shaking. And what we thought was hail were really tree limbs and things coming down on the RV. It was plenty of rain, plenty of tree debris coming down on us.”
In northwest Louisiana, a boy was quickly rescued after becoming trapped when a tree fell on his home along Wise Road in Bossier Parish, a sheriff’s deputy said.
Other damage reports also are coming in from the storm that rolled across east Texas, southwest Arkansas and skimmed northwest Louisiana.
There’s a tree on a house in Plain Dealing.
Multiple buildings were damaged between Queen City and Domino in Cass County, Texas. This is the same area that had a tornado signature on radar.
The building housing Koppers was among the casualties. Employees said no one was at the site around 12:30 p.m. when the winds ripped through the two-story metal building on U.S. Highway 59 just north of Queen City.
Motorists there said their vehicles were blown off U.S. 59. Roger Scharbert, of Shreveport, said he was southbound on US 59 when things went dark.
“And I got hit and got lifted of the ground and went rolling twice in that car right there. Pretty much got banged up a little bit, but I’m OK.”
J.D. Abbott, another motorist, said: “I seen it coming, like it got dark and I seen the wind pick up. And I told him to hold on and we ended up here in the median.”
The storm also crossed into southern Miller County, Ark., causing widespread damage. Some roads were temporarily rendered impassable, including Highway 149 and Highway 160 in Miller County.
Downed trees and power lines resulted in power outages impacting thousands of AEP/SWEPCO customers. Among them are about 2,300 customers in the Bossier Parish town of Plain Dealing and 1,400 in the northern Caddo Parish town of Vivian, the utility reports.
Also in Caddo, trees are down in the 1300 block of North Pine Street in Vivian.
[RELATED: Punishing winds, possible tornadoes inflict damage as storms cross US South]
Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.
