Severe Storms, Tornadoes kill 7 in Arkansas, damage homes around Kansas City
Pastor Dale Morgan
Severe Storms, Tornadoes kill 7 in Arkansas, damage homes around Kansas
City*
By JON GAMBRELL,
Associated Press Writer
DAMASCUS, Ark. - A powerful storm system packing tornadoes and heavy
winds roared across the nation's midsection early Friday, killing at
least seven people in Arkansas including a teenager crushed by a tree
while she slept.
Storms late Thursday and early Friday also seriously damaged homes and
businesses in the Kansas City, Mo., area, and twisters were reported in
Oklahoma and Texas. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries
in the other states.
In northwest Arkansas, a 15-year-old girl was killed early Friday and a
10-year-old boy injured when a tree fell on their home in Siloam
Springs, police said.
The other six deaths were in the central part of the state, where a rash
of twisters were seen. A father and son were killed in a mobile home in
Conway County, while three people were killed in Van Buren County and
another in Pulaski County. At least 13 people were injured throughout
the state, emergency officials said.
Extensive property damage was reported in Damascus, north of Little
Rock, where a spotter reported a tornado down just after 8:30 a.m.
"It sounded like all hell was breaking loose," said Randy Payne, 38, who
hid in a hallway at his aunt and uncle's house in Damascus.
In the Kansas City area, officials said several people were injured,
none seriously. About 40,000 lost power at the peak of the storm, which
brought wind of up to 80 mph and two small tornadoes that raked northern
parts of the city and the suburbs of Liberty and Gladstone early Friday
morning, the weather service said.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser said 100 homes suffered significant
damage in the city alone. In the northeast part of the city, dozens of
homes had chunks of their roofs missing, and trees were lying along the
roads and in ditches.
But "only a couple of people hurt _ not bad _ a couple of stitches,"
Funkhouser said.
The mayor in the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone, Mark Revenaugh, said
some 20 homes were destroyed and as many as 200 were damaged. Officials
said warning sirens were never set off in Gladstone because they didn't
receive any reports of tornado sightings.
Damage was also reported in Lawrence, to the west of the metropolitan area.
In Canton, Texas, local officials said an apparent tornado Friday ripped
down power lines and injured two people in overturned vehicles. Details
on their condition were not immediately available.
The storm hit as visitors were beginning to show up for a popular
open-air market that draws thousands to the county seat each month.
At least two tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma late Thursday. No
serious injuries were reported, but a woman who was treated at a
hospital for a broken foot, officials said. High winds destroyed a hotel
under construction in Owasso, north of Tulsa.
As the system churned eastward, thunderstorms moved through Kentucky and
a tornado warning was posted for Friday afternoon in the far western
part of the state.
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Associated Press writers Andale Gross and Rochelle Hines contributed to
this report.