The National Weather Service said today that a small tornado was responsible for damages to a mobile home park in Natchitoches Parish on Sunday.
The Victorian Mobile Home Park outside Provencal was hit about 3 p.m. Two people suffered minor injuries. The Weather Service surveyed the damage and concluded it was hit by a small twister, not straight-line winds.
Ed and Merle Farkus, who lived at the mobile home park, moved from Florida to Natchitoches Parish to get away from hurricanes. They didn't think much about a tornado.
"I got up and looked out the window and about that time I seen debris coming across the yard and I hollered to her, 'Get on the floor. There's a tornado coming.' And we both just dove to the floor," Ed Farkus said.
Seconds later, a tree sliced through their kitchen where they had been standing.
"We got out alive. That's all that matters; we have our lives," Merle Farkus said. "Things can be replaced, but it is heartbreaking."
The couple is thinking about moving.
"We'll just have to find a place to live and we wanted to move, but not like this," he said.
Both were taken to Natchitoches Regional Medical Center. Ed had a cut on the head; Merle had a panic attack.
More than half a dozen mobile homes were damaged by the tornado. A woman in a recreational vehicle when it overturned was treated for minor injuries.
In Zwolle in neighboring Sabine Parish, heavy rains are believed to be a factor in the collapse of a bridge on Louisiana Highway 120. A creek that runs under the bridge had overflowed.
Several other roads in Sabine Parish were closed due to high water and some sewage lines also backed up.
In Longview, Texas, high winds knocked down trees around the city. Nineteen streets were closed due to the heavy rains, which led to some flooding on Sunday.
Caroline Geer has a lot of cleaning up to do after the storms left a mess behind in her front yard.
"I heard a huge crash and I jumped 'cause it's unusual," Geer said. "It wasn't the thunder and I looked out the screen porch and saw my big tree out in the front was down."
Some Longview residents reported golf ball-size hail Saturday night.