Three tornadoes left 16,000 in the dark

Almost 16,000 residents throughout Avoyelles Parish were temporarily without electricity following multiple tornado strikes this past Monday.
Cleco is the largest utility in the parish and had approximately 14,700 customers affected by the storm. Entergy, serving primarily the Marksville and Lake Ophelia areas, lost power to approximately 1,100 customers -- which is half of its customers in Avoyelles.
More than 5,000 in the parish were still without power at 9 a.m. Tuesday. That number had been reduced to 1,500 by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Almost 600 were still without electricity Wednesday morning.
Cleco officials said only 97 of its customers were without power Wednesday morning. Power was restored by noon Wednesday to all customers whose homes and businesses were able to receive service.
Entergy reported 469 customers without power as of Wednesday morning with service restored to most of those by noon Wednesday. Entergy spokesperson Casey Kirschvink said the remainder had power restored by Wednesday night.
She said Entergy will work one-on-one with customers whose homes or businesses were too damaged to receive electrical service.

HOTEL CHECK-INS
Hotels in and around the parish had an unexpected increase in business as customers booked rooms while the electricity was out.
A spokeswoman at the Hampton Inn in Marksville said the hotel received a lot of people after the storm on Monday and was still busy Tuesday.
“We still have rooms available because the power was turned back on for many of those that checked in Monday,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
The Paragon Casino’s hotel lobby had a holiday feeling Monday night -- not just because the large Christmas tree still stands there, but also because of the many families with children in tow that were standing in the check-in line.
“We had a lot more people checking in Monday than we had expected,” a Paragon spokesperson said.
An employee at the Howard Johnson’s near Bunkie said the motel received some storm victims but had several Cleco employees check in while they were working in the parish and nearby Evangeline communities struck by the same storm.
National Weather Service Warning Coordinating Meteorologist Roger Erickson surveyed the damage in Avoyelles Tuesday.
Erickson concluded “that in most instances surveyed, the damage was from tornadoes.” He said seven tornadoes struck central Louisiana, with three of those in Avoyelles -- Bunkie, Hessmer and Marksville.
Erickson said the storm system that left a wake of damage from Bunkie to Mansura began at about 8 a.m. Monday in East Texas, around Kirbyville and Jasper.
“It hit Beauregard Parish and then Evangeline,” Erickson continued. “By noon, it was going through Avoyelles and by 3 p.m. it was in Alabama on its way to Florida. It was a very fast-moving and very strong storm system.”
Four women died in southeast Alabama when a tornado blew a large tree onto the mobile home where they were seeking shelter. An elderly man drowned in Florida in another apparent storm-related incident.
In Avoyelles, the first tornado strike occurred in Bunkie at about 11:44 a.m. The path was 1.6 miles long and 200 yards wide.
The 105 mph winds caused “widespread tree damage across Bunkie, especially the western side of town,” Erickson reported. “Two homes were destroyed when trees landed on them and came through the roof. At least 70 buildings were damaged or destroyed in Bunkie.”
At 11:47 a.m. the tornado hit Hessmer with 90 mph winds. That strike left a path 2.4 miles long and 200 yards wide.
“Widespread trees were snapped or uprooted across the Hessmer community,” Erickson noted. “At least 30 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Numerous power lines and poles were blown down along major roads, including La. Hwy 114 and Main Street (La. Hwy 115). A moving truck was tipped on its side by the wind.”
The strongest tornado was in Marksville, with 110 mph winds, that hit at the Marksville Airport and Walmart at 11:51 a.m. The twister’s path was a mile long and 200 yards wide.
“A tornado touched down near the airport, where one hangar and two planes were damaged,” Erickson said.
He said Walmart had skylights shattered and some roof damage. Other stores in that area had minor facade damage. A portable fireworks stand was destroyed.
“Across the street, several large trees fell on homes and several other buildings were damaged as well,” Erickson added.
Marksville Fire Chief Jerry Bordelon said the fire department ordered shoppers to leave Walmart, but “believe it or not, we had some people in there who were still trying to shop” even as the managers were trying to close the store.
Walmart resumed business Tuesday and “everything is fine at Walmart now,” a store spokeswoman said Wednesday.
restoring power
Erickson said that based on the damage he saw and his experience in areas with similar damage, utility customers can consider themselves fortunate if electricity is not out for several days or even a week.
Cleco reported the storm affected over 19,000 customers overall. The company mobilized 20 crews -- approximately 80 employees -- to repair damaged utility poles and power lines to restore service to the impacted areas.
James Lass, general manager of distribution operations and emergency management, said Avoyelles “was hit particularly hard.”
Cleco repaired the transmission line to the Simmesport-Bordelonville substation Tuesday morning, which restored service to customers in that area.
Cleco spokeswoman Robyn Cooper said transmission line damage is usually seen only in areas hit by a hurricane, not other types of windstorms.
Entergy also had customers affected in neighboring parishes, but most of the impact was in Avoyelles. It also mobilized repair crews to repair damage and restore service to its customers.
It is too early for any meaningful damage estimates, but those assessing the situation said individual property damage and the damage to the utility companies’ systems will reach well into the millions of dollars.