Parish officials spent weekend assessing damage and preparing for more flood waters

Officials prepared for flooding in north Bossier this weekend after an outbreak of storms  swept through the area Thursday.

Officials urged residents near the Red Chute Bayou levee in Bossier City to leave their homes Sunday as water continued to spill over the top of the levee and a breach seemed possible.

Emergency officials worked Saturday and Sunday to fortify weak spots in the bayou fed by the Flat River, but witnesses said water was topping the levee and sandbags in places.

Officials asked residents in several northeast Bossier City neighborhoods to consider leaving their homes because of a threat the levee could breach. Authorities opened a shelter at a nearby school. Residents reported water in homes in some areas.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took a helicopter tour of the area and spoke to officials and residents Sunday at the emergency operations center in Bossier City. Jindal said he would ask for federal help for the flood and storm victims in northwest Louisiana.

The Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said more than 1,600 homes and 4,200 residents were in the potential flood area and they feared some people weren't taking the threat seriously.

If there's a breach in the levee, the water will flood the area quickly and people would then be trapped, authorities said.

"If someone wants to stay that bad, there's nothing we can do about it," said Bossier City Fire Chief Sammy Halphen. "But we're urging because we care and because we don't want to see anyone end up stranded for days or hurt or potentially lose their life."

Red Chute's waters began spilling over the levee early Saturday and continued into Sunday. One emergency official said the potential flood could be worse than the area's previous floods of 2001 and 1991.

"People need to take this very seriously," said Halphen.

In some areas, Red Chute was coming over the levee and sandbags at a steady flow, but the levee itself had not broken. Officials hoped the bayou's level would crest sometime Sunday.

Officials were reaching out to residents with special needs and taking people to the old Parkway High School for shelter.

A series of severe weather systems with strong winds, heavy rains and tornadoes passed through the north and west part of the state Thursday that caused flooding into Friday and severely damaged homes in Bossier and Caddo Parishes. A tornado touched down between Fillmore and Bossier City early Thursday afternoon while three more tornado warnings were issued from 4-7 p.m. Homes in the Haughton area were damaged and winds from storms knocked down a power pole at Benton Road just north of I220 that resulted in a fire at Greenacre Townhouses on Greenacres at Benton Road.

The Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office was out Friday assessing damage, determining high water levels on roadways and cautioning drivers. Ed Baswell, Bossier Sheriff's Office public information officer,  noted that the Red River was still rising as of Friday.

"As long as it's rising, we've got problems. Everything is full — the bayous, streams and lakes, there's nowhere else for the water to go," Baswell said.

Barksdale Air Force Base Airmen, at the request of state and local officials, have been working nonstop since early Saturday morning to reinforce a levee containing Red Chute Bayou in northern Bossier Parish.

"We're working hard with the Corps of Engineers and the Bossier Levee Board to do what we can to keep the water contained," said Col. Steven Basham, 2nd Bomb Wing commander. "We'll continue to assist for as long as they need us."

As of Friday, just a day after the storms, there were approximately 33,000 homes without electricity reported in the Caddo/Bossier area. Haughton was restored power by midnight Friday and all of Shreveport-Bossier City's power was back by noon Saturday.

The Red Cross maintained a shelter at Platt Elementary School, 4680 Highway 80 East in Haughton, that opened Thursday evening to provide homes for approximately 15 families.

Due to the ongoing recovery efforts from storm damage, the Bossier City Police Department limited access to the Greenacres Place Subdivision and Brownlee Road Neighborhood to only persons who live in those areas through the weekend.

Friday, Jindal issued a statewide emergency declaration to assist in the deployment and staging of state assets to support affected parishes in responding to the emergency.

“Just as we did during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year, we know we must move quickly in every emergency situation to protect our people and their property," said Jindal.

Due to high water and significant road closures, state government offices were closed Friday in Caddo, Bossier and Webster parishes.

The state of emergency extends from Oct. 28 through Nov. 27.

The AP contributed to this story

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