The Red River Parish Police Jury has made an emergency declaration following Sunday’s storm. Jury Manager Jessie Davis said, “We are compiling damage estimates to see if the area qualifies for state and federal assistance.”

Office of Emergency Preparedness Director Shane Hubbard said, “It was straight line winds estimated at 70 knots. Evidence points to wind, and I don’t believe there was a tornado.” Hubbard explained that straight-line winds tend to leave debris all falling in the same direction. (Note that 70 knots equals about 80.57 miles per hour.)

The Office of Emergency Preparedness is collecting data on storm damage costs. Hubbard explained that there are certain thresholds that have to be met for the parish to be eligible for FEMA or state disaster recovery funds. Hubbard said, “I don’t think the dollar amount of damage was that high.” He added that to this time only 5 houses have been reported to have sustained major damage.