"My couch came up off the floor a little bit, my back wall felt like it was going to cave in, it was so loud!" says Linda Stewart, who lives off of Shirley Francis Rd. in Greenwood.
The reverberation was heard and felt by staffers at KSLA News 12 at the studios on Fairfield Ave. in Shreveport's Highland neighborhood at 4:27 p.m. The concussion rattled windows. Meteorologist Jeff Castle says the closest incidence of possible thunder at that time was in Monroe, to the east in Ouachita Parish.
Some reports say it shook the ground.
KSLA News 12 has checked in with numerous law enforcement agencies and across the area and we continue to work to track down the source.
In spite of numerous reports, officials at Calumet in Shreveport and in Cotton Valley say there have been no explosions or incidents at either facility. Reports by other media organizations in the area that there was an explosion at Calumet are unsubstantiated, based on confirmation with the Shreveport Fire Department that there have been no calls whatsoever to the plant in Shreveport on this date.
Webster Parish Sheriff Gary Sexton says there have been no reports of anything amiss at Camp Minden, where explosives are stored in blast-resistant bunkers.
Several fire units have been at the scene of an oil tank fire believed to have been caused by lightning earlier in the day, but the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office says there have been no explosions as a result of that incident.
Some reports describe the sound and accompanying vibration as a "sonic boom."
A spokesperson for Barksdale Air Force Base says it was not related to any activity on the base.
"Some said the noise was so loud that it caused either their homes or businesses to shake.
"I was laying in the bed about to get ready to go to work and it was like a big boom. It knocked the pictures off the wall, the trophies over and it busted the next door neighbor window," said resident David Toal."
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