400 homes destroyed as Powerful Midwest Storms Leave Deadly Trail
Pastor Dale Morgan
400 homes destroyed as Powerful Midwest Storms Leave Deadly Trail*
DAMASCUS, Ark., May 3, 2008(CBS/AP) Residents of communities across
Arkansas on Saturday faced the wreckage of homes torn apart by violent
weather that has pushed this year's storm death toll in the southern
state up to 26.
"You can see the bags under the eyes of the people who consistently over
and over again are called on to respond," Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday.
"That's their job and that's our job and we'll do it, no matter how many
hours it takes or how many days it takes."
Seven Arkansans were killed Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts
of four states, and two dozen or more were injured. Emergency officials
initially reported eight deaths but revised the figure downward
Saturday. Meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched
down across Middle America late Thursday and early Friday.
It was the latest atmospheric assault in what weather watchers say has
already been a very active early storm season. Through April there have
been 708 tornadoes, compared to 517 during the same period last year,
CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan reports. That's nearly 200 more
twisters already this year.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service posted tornado watches during
the morning for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as an arc of
strong thunderstorms rolled across the region. One Saturday morning
storm damaged homes in southeastern Louisiana, and state police Sgt.
James O'Quinn said a highway in St. Tammany Parish was blocked by water
as much as 3 feet deep.
Destruction in Arkansas on Friday ran from Siloam Springs near the
Oklahoma line to tiny communities along the Mississippi River. Powerful
tornadoes killed 13 people in the state on Feb. 5 and another person on
Jan. 8.
"This year it just seems like we're getting pounded," Van Buren County
Sheriff Scott Bradley said.
Eighteen Arkansas counties reported damage, including some 400 homes
destroyed, Renee Preslar, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of
Emergency Management, said Saturday.
"There is clean up going on everywhere," Preslar said.
Storms ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City,
Missouri. Oklahoma endured severe hail, and tents tumbled at an open-air
market in eastern Texas.
In Arkansas, members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist
Church just north of the Van Buren County town of Damascus after a
neighbor warned them of the coming storm. They said it was total silence
as the storm approached.
"Everybody was afraid," said worker Jesus Estrada, 22.
After the storm, he and others went down the street and aided
firefighters who were helping people out of their homes.
Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas.
Beebe said Arkansans would cope with the latest in a string of bad
weather. The state has had a foot of snow and a foot of rain. Severe
flooding killed at least five people, Preslar said.
"We will fight through it, we will get through it and we will help our
neighbors," Beebe said. "We'll do what's necessary to take care of our
people."
Six of the deaths Friday were in two counties, Conway and Van Buren, hit
hard by the February tornado. That storm, with a 122-mile-long track,
had wind estimated at 166 mph to 200 mph. Friday's tornado Friday had
wind of 135 mph to 165 mph.
In central Arkansas, a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when
the storm destroyed their house just south of Bee Branch, in Van Buren
County. "There wasn't anything left," Bradley said.
Another child who lived at the home had already left for school,
escaping injury.
Near the Arkansas-Oklahoma line, a 15-year-old girl died early Friday
when a storm toppled a tree onto her family's home in Siloam Springs.
She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy
survived with minor injuries and was pulled from the wreckage by neighbors.
"She was dead on top of him with the tree on top of her. It was just the
mattress in between them, and he was screaming `Get it off of me! Get it
off of me!"' Chad Tilghman said.
A man and one of his sons died near Birdtown in Conway County; officials
initially reported the death of a second son but Saturday he remained
hospitalized. The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of
Little Rock.
Brandon Baker, Conway County's emergency services director, said six
people with "pretty severe" injuries were taken to a hospital. Ten to 20
homes were destroyed in a rural area.
"At this point, we're all at the mercy of Mother Nature," Smith said.
In Oklahoma, storms produced tornadoes, strong winds and large hail,
causing structural damage and power outages but no serious injuries,
authorities said.
About 10,000 electric customers in the state lost power at one point,
but most were back on by Friday afternoon.
At least three tornadoes raked across central and northern Oklahoma,
including one in Osage County near Tulsa that was an estimated 100 yards
wide.
Earlier, storms late Thursday and early Friday seriously damaged homes
and businesses in the Kansas City, Mo., area, and tornadoes were also
reported in Texas, although there were no immediate reports of severe
damage.
A cold front set off the severe weather. The National Weather Service
issued tornado warnings for several counties in central and north
Arkansas, while trained spotters reported a tornado down near Damascus
and another near Carlisle. There also were unconfirmed reports of
tornadoes at Center Ridge and near Greers Ferry, and law enforcement
agencies reported tornado sightings in East End, Hensley, Keo, and Woodson.