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CLINTON, Ark. – Tornadoes ripping through central Arkansas killed at least one person and injured about two dozen others Friday, and more bad weather was possible Saturday, authorities said.

The death was reported in Van Buren County — about 75 miles north of Little Rock — where at least three mobile homes were destroyed, state Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Renee Preslar said.

About two dozen people were hurt during the storms, but local officials who reported the deaths and injuries to the state agency did not immediately release the severity of the injuries or details about how the individuals were hurt, Preslar said.

Another round of storms, including tornadoes, could come Saturday, said John Robinson, warning coordinator meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Little Rock.

“Certainly, there will be the threat of severe weather (Saturday) and the threat of at least isolated tornadoes,” he said. “I do think we will have more severe weather.”

Search teams located a person believed missing in the wreckage of a home in Center Ridge, while extensive property damage was reported across several counties in central Arkansas, Preslar said.

Tornado sightings were reported just a few miles north in Culpepper, according to Arkansas State Police. A sheriff’s dispatcher said a sighting also was reported in the Oakland area, near the Missouri border.

Trees and power lines were blocking major roadways in both areas.

Robinson said a slow-moving cold front that moved into Arkansas from the west touched off the severe weather Friday.

“We had spotty thunderstorms here and there, and those are the ones — the ones that sit out there by themselves — that end up being tornado producers,” he said, noting tornado season generally peaks in April in Arkansas.

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A 2-year-old Prescott boy dies after being mauled by a pit bull. It happened Wednesday morning just after 9 a.m. off Bemis Road. The city of Prescott is Southwest of Little Rock.

Family and friends wouldn’t go on camera, but say the toddler saw a puppy and chased it to a backyard where the larger pit bull was. They know this because his 3-year-old brother followed him and than rushed home to alert the family.

Families, police and emergency personnel are distraught over the events that occurred Wednesday morning. Neighbor Bridgette Monroe recalls, “A lady came running from this way screaming, my baby, my baby.”

Monroe was in the process of moving and ran with the woman. She continues, “I was down there with the baby rubbing his arms and legs telling the baby it’s going to be ok.”

Monroe says the chained pit bulls hid in their dog houses. Her account of the scene is disturbing. “The babies’ jugular, throat was bitten and from his mouth up to his eye was bitten.”

Chief Brian Russell says, “It’s a 2-year-old baby and each of us have our own children; it destroys you and he’s not here because of something like this.”

Chief Russell says police and emergency crews arrived within minutes and he was airlifted to St. Michael’s where he was pronounced dead.

“There very well could be charges either way. We’ll just have to see where the investigation goes from here,” Chief Russell adds.

Richard Ray Smith points, “The dog attacked the kid right there.”

Smiths’ mother owns the dog; she was home when the incident happened. He says, “She stood over the baby until the ambulance got here.”

Smith continues, “The dog has been raised with us and all the kids have played with the dog. It’s not a violent dog, we don’t know what happened. I have grief for the family.”

But two doors down where the kids were staying, Kevin Taylor and Christy Godwin say they were afraid of the dogs and told the owners they were vicious.

Smith concludes, “We don’t want the family to be mad at us, it’s just an accident that happened.”

After our interview with Bridgette Monore, she found out she’s related to the toddler.

Animal Control is holding two adult pit bulls until the investigation is over; the puppy has not been caught.

Chief Russell says the owners were in compliance with the dog ordinance and the State Police is involved.

The sibling’s age 8-months, two and three-years-old stayed with Kevin Taylor and Christy Godwin while their mom worked. Godwin says they are like family.

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The official position is that they are escaped pets.

Big Cats Caught On Camera In Arkansas

Wildlife Officers Respond to Mountain Lion Sightings

POSTED: 9:15 am CDT May 14, 2009
UPDATED: 10:09 am CDT May 14, 2009

ROGERS, Ark. – Carlos Sinclair set up a game camera in a field near a pond to catch snapshots of deer roaming his property, but instead he caught a picture of a creature that’s rarely seen in Arkansas.

 

State wildlife officers say wild mountain lions, cougars or panthers don’t exist in the natural state. “It is our state position that the mountain lions that are here are most likely released or escaped cats,” said Game and Fish officer Myron Means. 

At one time wild mountain lions did roam freely in Arkansas, but the population was wiped out by the early 1920s when Arkansas was settled. “There has been no evidence of the Florida Panther in Arkansas since the 1920s and no evidence of a wild mountain lion in Arkansas since 1975,” said Means. 

But on average the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission receives 100 reports of mountain lion sightings each year. 

Sinclair lives in rural Madison County near Wesley. He said that in December of 2008 he saw a mountain lion sitting on a pond bank. “It was a pretty good sized cat,” said Sinclair. He checked his game camera and found that he had captured two pictures of the big cat. 

40/29 News has received reports of other mountain lion sightings, but none with pictures to back up the claims. 

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has said that wildlife biologist must have specific evidence to verify a mountain lion sighting, such as track marks. If a picture is taken of a big cat, officers want to go to the scene and investigate the relationship of the camera to the background. 

The most recent verified mountain lion sighting was when a cougar that was caught on a game camera in the Winona Wildlife Management area near Hot Springs. The picture clearly shows a mountain lion. Another verified mountain lion sighting was in 2003 in Carlisle near Little Rock. A mountain lion was struck by a car and wildlife officials were able to analyze the feline. The cat was declawed and also had a scar on its ear where a tag once looped through its ear. 

“We do recognize they are out there, but we do not recognize there is a viable reproducing population of wild mountain lions,” said Means. Wildlife officers believe if a resident spots a mountain lion, it’s most likely a cat that’s been released from captivity. 

According to a 2002 study by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 150 cougars were living in the natural state as pets. Officials have no idea how many of those cats may have escaped into the wild. 

As for the big cat caught on camera in Madison County, Means said he believes it is probably a former pet. “It looks like a mountain lion, without a doubt. But, as a wildlife biologist, I don’t have the evidence to validate that sighting and I certainly don’t have the evidence to validate it’s a wild mountain lion.” 

Means said the closest wild mountain lion populations are in Florida and Southern Texas. He says it’s unlikely that a member of those cat communities would travel as far north as Arkansas. However, Means also said a confirmed wild mountain lion was recently killed in Bossier City, La., not too far from the Arkansas state line.

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UPDATE: Sinkhole Threatening Family’s Home

Reported by: Lauren Trager, KARK 4 News

We have more information on a giant sinkhole in the front yard of a Little Rock home that we first told you about Sunday. It’s threatening to swallow the home.

The hole is about 20 feet long, 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep. Look a little closer and you see water running through it–and the remnants of the concrete box that used to hold the water inside.

Early Sunday morning Homer and Maxine Boose say they heard what sounded like a muffled bomb going off and later learned their yard had caved in.

Today, city workers evaluated the sink hole, to decide what to do about this private drainage ditch– put in long before the city regulated where and how you could build-possibly 60 or 70 years old.

The Booses say they’re worried about the safety of their home and are considering moving.

“I really don’t want to live here like this. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know what to say because I really don’t want to live here like this,” said Maxine Boose.

The city says they are still considering options for repairing the sink hole—but say because it isn’t a city-owned drainage system, they aren’t totally responsible and likely will not pay to move the Booses to another home.

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Rains Create Huge Sink Hole

Reported by: Betsey Martin, KARK 4-News

Weekend storms have caused major problems for an elderly Little Rockcouple.

Massive rains created a huge sink hole Sunday morning after a storm drain collapsed.

The family that lives there actually heard it happen.

They say they were so alarmed by the noise, they thought lightning had struck their home.

“Like a boom, just kind of shook the ground. It happened before in between the houses and they fixed that, but they didn’t think this was going to happen,” explained homeowner Homer Boose.

City crews were busy working on the problem Sunday morning.

But now the couple worries the hole which runs under their home could get even bigger and….cause their home to collapse.

The storm drain is more than 50 years old.

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Second Possible Tornado Hits Area

POSTED: 5:51 pm CDT April 30, 2009
UPDATED: 10:56 pm CDT April 30, 2009

WITTER, Ark. – A second possible tornado hit the area Wednesday night, 40/29 News has learned.

 

An unconfirmed tornado was reported around 5 p.m. Thursday a few miles south of Witter, in Madison County. 

Mother Nature blew through a trailer home and left it in pieces. 

“I’m guessing something hit the front of the house because there are two giant holes,” said Amanda Bayley. 

Bayley believes her mother’s home was destroyed by something stronger than a thunderstorm. 

The side of the trailer is torn apart, and just next door, the roof has completely blown off. 

“They’re going to have to tear it all apart and wall it in,” said Bayley. 

She said her mom and her mom’s boyfriend were inside when the storm hit. 

“She told me that she could feel it shifting and they were afraid it was going to come off the blocks. She said it was over in like two minutes. It came and left really quick,” said Bayley. “I’m just thankful no one got hurt.” 

Pieces of metal were found in trees, insulation was caught on the fencing and a satellite dish was found in pieces at a nearby field. 

“I kept my kids home from school. I stayed home from work, and we’re out here just trying to get this place cleaned up. It’s a big mess,” said Bayley. 

“We came out here, and we started helping,” said Michael Huey, Bayley’s son. 

The family said it’ll have to rebuild. 

For now, it is helping to clear debris and tear down what’s damaged. 

“Hopefully we can fix this up,” said Huey. 

The people who live there will be staying at a nearby house until their home is rebuilt. 

Madison County’s Department of Emergency Management is currently working with the National Weather Service to determine if, in fact, a tornado touched down.

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Van Buren Man Hurt In Pit Bull Attack

Police Arrest 3 On Suspicion Of Harboring Animal

VAN BUREN, Ark. – An elderly Van Buren man is recovering after being attacked by a pit bull.

 

Police said the victim was attacked in the 1700 block of Poplar Street. 

The victim told police which house he thought the dog and its owners came from, but they said the dog didn’t live there. 

Officers later arrested Michael Walker and Lori Cook on suspicion of obstructing governmental operations after another resident told police the dog was inside the house. 

A third man, Scott Pulliam, was also arrested on suspicion of harboring a vicious dog and allowing a dog to run at large without vaccinations or city tags. 

Investigators have quarantined the animal to see if it shows signs of disease.

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Florida wins, hands down.

# 1	Florida:	337
# 2	Texas:	15
= 3	Georgia:	9
= 3	South Carolina:	9
# 5	Alabama:	5
# 6	Louisiana:	2
= 7	Arkansas:	1
= 7	North Carolina:	1

DEFINITION: Number of documented alligator attacks since 1948. There have been 17 fatal attacks in Florida and one fatal attack in Georgia. Additional deaths which were previously reported have been ruled out because the wounds appeared to be post-mortem. The most common cases were lacerations or scratches on the hands, whereas the most common activity attributed to the attack was an attempt to capture, pick up or exhibit the alligator. Other common activities that led to an alligator attack were swimming, fishing activities and retrieving golf balls.

SOURCE: Alligator Attacks on Humans in the United States, Ricky L. Langley, MD, MPH. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 16, 119 124 (2005). Additional figures taken from news reports.

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Largest project to study tornadoes to start in May

In what’s described as “the largest attempt in history to study tornadoes,” more than 50 scientists are preparing to hit the road next month to explore the origin, structure and evolution of the killer storms, the National Science Foundation says.

From May 10 to June 13, scientists will focus on the central Great Plains — southern South Dakota, western Iowa, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma.

The project, called VORTEX2 — Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment — involves 40 research vehicles, including 10 mobile radars.

This year’s tornado season has been punishing. Today, severe weather swept across much of the South, killing at least two people, toppling trees and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes. More than 92,400 customers still did not have power this afternoon after a strong thunderstorm blew across Alabama, spawning an apparent tornado and wrecking a yacht marina near the Mississippi line. Most of the Florida Panhandle and areas east and southeast of Tallahassee have been under tornado watches or warnings most of the day.

A twister Friday killed a woman and her infant daughter and damaged 500 buildings in Tennessee.

Late Thursday a tornado killed three people in Arkansas.

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Be sure to click through for images and video.

Rain hope for US wildfire states

Heavy rain this weekend could bring relief to parts of the southern US hit by wildfires, forecasters say.

The blazes have killed three people and destroyed hundreds of homes in Texas and Oklahoma since they ignited on Thursday.

They were fanned by high winds, part of a storm system that has also triggered deadly tornadoes in Tennessee and Arkansas.

At least five people died and about 70 were hurt in two separate tornadoes.

A mother and child were killed when one touched down in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Friday.

Officials said it damaged more than 200 homes, and search teams were checking for people trapped under rubble.

Three more people died in Mena, Arkansas, in a tornado late on Thursday.

Other tornadoes and high winds were reported across several states.

State of emergency

The winds have been blamed for driving wildfires that have been burning in Texas and Oklahoma since the middle of the week.

In Texas, a couple were killed and their son injured when their home was engulfed by flame near Montague, north-west of Dallas.

A woman died in another part of the state, officials said, and scores of homes in the Texan towns of Sunset and Stoneburg were charred.

Neighbouring Oklahoma declared a state of emergency in more than 30 counties after fires destroyed more than 160 homes.

A marshal in Midwest City said at least one fire was thought to have been started deliberately.

Forecasters in both states said rain was expected late on Saturday into Sunday, potentially helping to control the raging fires.

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Significant Tornadoes expected in Louisiana on Easter Sunday

April 12, 1:27 AM

Saturday’s storms were finally limited to a small area, and better yet there were no tornado reports! There were just a handful of hail and wind reports, which is a nice change since the previous two days both had deadly tornadoes.

Unfortunately Sunday may be back into the tornado-realm of things, with ongoing convection turning into redevelopment in the afternoon hours over parts of eastern and southeastern Texas and all of Louisiana. This is the area that should see the most significant coverage of severe storms–and tornadoes. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center has southern Louisiana under a Moderate Risk for severe weather on Sunday. They also outline a larger area for a slight risk for severe storms across all of Eastern Texas, Southern Oklahoma eastward through Southern Arkansas and Mississippi.

On the map I have outlined the SPC’s severe risk areas as well as the area I’m most focused in on. Note that in Southwestern Louisiana the SPC’s Moderate Risk area overlaps with my interest area. Therefore, the threat seems most significant in that area by consensus. Here is where significant tornadoes may be possible in the late afternoon hours.

For storm chasers, the areas farther north into Arkansas and Oklahoma seem less appealing to me. Moisture and moisture depth will be significantly lacking, however very cold mid levels may be able to compensate for the lack of moisture. With good instability in these areas there could be some storms, and that must be what the SPC is homing in on in those areas.

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Eyewitness accounts of the disaster. Scary stuff.

Tornado survivor: ‘Sounded like 7 freight trains’

By JUANITA COUSINS – 14 minutes ago

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — The worst sound Eric Funkhouser said he has ever heard was a 10-second “voom” followed by a man’s screams.

A tornado hit Funkhouser’s home in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville, on Friday, part of severe storms that spawned tornadoes across the Southeast that’s been blamed for three deaths and dozens of injuries.

“It sounded like seven freight trains and 22 vacuum cleaners all going at the same time,” Funkhouser said Saturday as he returned to what is left of his home and neighborhood.

Funkhouser ran outside and found his neighbor John Bryant laying in Funkhouser’s front yard, covered with blood and screaming.

“He kept saying that his wife and baby were out there with him and he had to find them,” Funkhouser said.

Twenty minutes later, Funkhouser and other survivors found Bryant’s wife, Kori, dead in the gravel driveway under debris and 9-week-old Olivia Bryant was found dead buckled into her car seat, beneath carpet and a tree.

Family friend Laura Lawrence said Bryant, a self-employed construction worker, had just gotten home on his lunch break. He, his wife and daughter were seeking shelter when the tornado rolled through.

National Weather Service officials say a preliminary report shows the EF3 tornado tore a 15-mile path through the university town of about 100,000 with winds as high as 165 mph. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged and more than 40 people were injured.

John Bryant is in critical condition with a broken back, Lawrence said Saturday, as she gathered the family’s clothes and pictures from their neighbors’ yards.

During a tour of the damaged areas on Saturday, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen walked past a pile of pink baby clothes topped with the Bryants’ wedding album, paused before yellow and gray tarps marking where the mother and daughter were found and bowed his head.

“My thoughts and prayers are with them. It’s very sad,” Bredesen said.

He then walked through the neighborhood that was hardest hit, listening to survivors share stories of how they hid in bathrooms and pantries.

“I am astonished,” Bredesen said. “Where it hit is very very intense.”

Bredesen said he may request a presidential declaration of emergency after Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials completely survey the area.

“I want to get all the assistance we possibly can for people,” Bredesen said. “For right now, the community is doing a great job.”

Church members and neighbors joined survivors in cleaning up debris, patching up roofs with blue tarps and sawing tree branches from cars and houses.

Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg said water is running on generator power but power and gas remain off in the areas worst hit. Code inspectors were going door to door to determine the amount of damage done and whether the homes are destroyed.

They condemned the Funkhousers’ home with a sticker that read “Unsafe. Do not enter or occupy.”

The Bryant’s home, the only wood house on the block, was destroyed and most of the siding was in Funkhouser’s yard.

Churches and utility companies passed out hot dogs, hamburgers, ham sandwiches, chips and water to families and volunteers.

“This is something we have to do because you can’t just look over this damage,” church volunteer Lacie Young said. “We were so blessed and have to share these blessings.”

Rescue teams concluded a 5-hour search Friday night for survivors who may have been trapped in the rubble, but no more victims were found, said Donnie Smith, a spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

Reports of destruction were widespread across the region Friday, with funnel clouds spotted in Kentucky and Alabama and devastating winds, huge hail and heavy rain reported in several states.

In South Carolina, a driver trying to avoid storm debris in the eastern part of the state was killed Friday, state Emergency Management Division spokesman Derrec Becker said.

Several possible tornadoes were reported in north Georgia as heavy rain, hail and winds downed trees and power lines.

On Thursday night, a black funnel cloud packing winds of at least 136 mph descended on the western Arkansas hamlet of Mena, killing at least three, injuring 30 and destroying or damaging 600 homes.

There, emergency officials are trying to collect ice chests and tarps to prepare for another round of storms projected to hit the area Sunday. Crews have already used 1,000 tarps to cover damaged roofs, and workers are struggling to keep perishables refrigerated because power is still out in Mena.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Even though people think earthquakes only occur on the West Coast, they have and will occur in other parts of the United States.

Earthquakes In The Midwestern and Eastern United States?!

Most people think that earthquakes occur only in places like California, Alaska, and Japan. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Several major and numerous minor earthquakes have occurred in the midwestern and eastern United States, as well as eastern Canada. Some of the earthquakes that have caused notable damage in these areas are listed below.

• 1663 & 1870, St. Lawrence River region, Canada
• 1755, Boston/Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Earthquake estimated to be magnitude 6.0; buildings damaged.
• 1811 & 1812 – New Madrid, Missouri, experienced the three largest earthquakes known to have occurred in North America (magnitudes estimated between 7.2 and 8.3) and 203 damaging aftershocks. Soil liquefaction occurred.
• 1886, Charleston, South Carolina. Estimated magnitude 6.8. Soil liquefaction occurred. Extensive damage; 60 people or more died. Over 400 aftershocks over the next 30 years.
• 1895, Charleston, Missouri
• 1897, Giles County, Virginia
• 1884, New York City area
• 1931 — Valentine, Texas, had a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, the largest earthquake to hit Texas in historic times.
• 1935, Timiskaming, Ontario (Canada)
• 1947 — Michigan experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake.
• 1979 & 1980 – New York State and the adjacent areas experienced 131 earthquakes of magnitude 1 to 5.
• 1980, 5 earthquakes recorded north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1980, Kentucky shaken by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake.
• 1982 — New Brunswick, Canada, had a magnitude 5.7 earthquake.
• 1982 — Arkansas earthquake swarm starts. Eighty-eight earthquakes between June 24 and July 5, 1982. Four earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.0 to 4.5 during first 3 months of swarm. Total of about 40,000 earthquakes in the area (most very small or not felt) between 1982 and 1985.
• 1983 – Lake Charles, Louisiana, experienced a magnitude 3.8 earthquake.
• 1983 — Indiana had a magnitude 5.9 earthquake.
• 1986 — Painesville, Ohio, experienced a magnitude 4.9 earthquake and several aftershocks. The earthquake was felt in 11 states.
• 1987 — Southeastern Illinois experienced a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. This area has had 7 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater since 1892.

You probably noticed that in the list above, the magnitudes of earthquakes that took place in the 1800′s are described as “estimated.” This is because these earthquake events took place before the Richter magnitude scale was put in place. The approximation is made by a study of accounts of the earthquake which are correlated with the damage described in theMercalli intensity scale, which, as you may recall, allows a classification of an earthquake’s magnitude by ordinary people (not just seismologists). The descriptions may come even from personal correspondance of average citizens and include telling details about the damage the earthquake caused.

Over 900,000 earthquakes occur worldwide each year. Fortunately, the vast majority of them are magnitude 2.5 or less, and great earthquakes (magnitude 8.0 or more) only happen about once every 5 to 10 years. Most of these great quakes occur along the plate boundaries, not in the eastern and midwestern U.S.

A few areas of the midwestern and eastern United States are more prone to earthquakes than others. The most earthquake-prone areas include Charleston, South Carolina, eastern Massachusetts, the St. Lawrence River area, and the central Mississippi River Valley. Others sections of this part of the country are prone to earthquakes, but can expect fewer quakes of smaller magnitude. Below is a map showing the risk of damage by earthquakes for the continental United States.

FIGURE 1 (MODIFIED FROM STEARNS & MILLER, 1977)

The central Mississippi River Valley and the Charleston, South Carolina, are more prone to damage during earthquakes than the northern part of the country. These areas have sandy soils that shake more than solid rock, resulting in damage from subsidence during an earthquake. The high water tables along the Mississippi and near the coast also increase the risk of soil liquefaction during strong earthquakes.

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Sure do seem to be a ton of tornadoes touching down around the U.S.

Tornadoes confirmed in Shreveport, Bossier City

FROM STAFF REPORTS • APRIL 10, 2009
The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado or tornadoes hit Cross Lake north of Shreveport and Bossier City Thursday night.

 

An EF2 tornado touched down near Cross Lake. EF2 tornadoes have wind speeds of 111-135 miles per hour.

 

An EF1 tornado — touched down in Bossier City on and possibly near Barksdale Air Force Base. An EF1 tornado packs winds of 86 to 110 miles an hour.

 

Barksdale officials reported a 100-yard-wide track on base and damage to trees and houses there, said Christian Stapleton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Shreveport.

 

National Weather Service teams are still surveying damage from Thursday night’s storms throughout the region.

 

Their areas of focus is along the Interstate 20 corridor across north Louisiana, Sevier and Howard counties in Arkansas and throughout East Texas.

Weather Service employees, trained storm spotters, ham radio operators, law enforcement and others reported tornadoes and hail from Shreveport to Monroe.

 

At least two local injuries were reported. A male, age unknown, was hurt in the Lakeview area on the northeast side of Cross Lake. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

 

On Ashton Street, in Shreveport, a car fell on a car, trapping a woman.
Emergency responders also said 10-15 rail cars were blown off the tracks along Interstate 220 near Cross Lake.

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) Tornadoes are reported to have touched down in central Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky this afternoon, injuring at least 15 people. A line of storms has been moving from the Midwest toward the South. Another tornado struck the western Arkansas city of Mena last night, killing three people.

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Some ignore siren as tornado strikes Ark. hamlet

By JON GAMBRELL – 7 hours ago

MENA, Ark. (AP) — The sirens sounded three times across this western Arkansas hamlet, and residents watched several funnel clouds pass harmlessly over town. The fourth siren was for another twister that ended up being a killer.

While many took cover immediately Thursday night in the basement of the county courthouse, others stayed home, only to glance out their windows just in time to see the black funnel descend on the community just east of the Oklahoma line. At least three people were killed, at least 30 others injured and 600 homes were damaged or destroyed.

“This one popped out of nowhere,” said Polk County Sheriff Mike Oglesby.

The tornado was part of a line of storms that continued wreaking havoc in the South on Friday. The National Weather Service said a tornado destroyed two homes in southwestern Kentucky, and authorities near Nashville, Tenn., said multiple tornado touchdowns were reported.

As daylight broke Friday in Mena, pink insulation hung like cherry blossoms from the sheared branches of century-old maples. The roof of a two-story home sat atop the rubble that once was the floors beneath it, a set of women’s clothes still hanging from a suspended closet rack.

Oglesby said search-and-rescue teams had combed through the city’s downtown and a neighborhood just west that sustained the brunt of the storm without finding any other victims. The sheriff said he had no reports of anyone else missing in the city of 5,700 in the Ouachita Mountains.

An initial survey of the damage suggests the tornado packed winds of at least 136 mph, weather service forecaster John Robinson said Friday.

Basic tornado safety rules call for people, when warned, to go to the lowest floor in a building and put as many walls as possible between themselves and outside.

A warning was posted at 7:24 p.m. Thursday night for areas north of Mena and another one went up for the community at 8:01 p.m. — nine minutes before it hit. The reason for four separate sirens wasn’t immediately clear, but Robinson said some communities cannot run their sirens continuously because their motors will burn up.

“Everything was well-covered. We said everything was heading straight toward Mena. It’s unfortunate yet,” Robinson.

The twice-monthly meeting of the Mena’s chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star had been going on uninterrupted, the 19 people inside only faintly hearing the sirens through the building’s cinderblock walls, said attendee Thurman Allen.

“We heard the siren two or three times. It would sound off and it would quit,” said Allen, 79. “We were getting ready to get out of the building when it hit.”

The storm tore down the Masonic hall’s walls, collapsing the roof on one woman, killing her, Allen said. Allen was hit with debris and thrown to the floor. The wind bowled over his wife and others inside.

“We had several ladies who it took the shoes right off their feet,” said Fred Key, 37.

Others killed in the Mena storm were found in a collapsed house and in a front yard, said James Reeves, the county’s emergency coordinator. The identities of the two women and a man who died have not been released.

Some residents sought shelter in the Polk County Courthouse, where dispatchers became trapped immediately after the storm. A radio antenna fell over onto part of the beige brick building during the storm, damaging its roof.

Others, like Ken Butler, 40, said they initially dismissed the sirens. Butler could only huddle against a wall as the storm hit, his arms wrapped around an exposed gas pipe.

“The siren was going off in plenty of time, I just didn’t take it serious enough,” Butler said.

The storm plucked his neighbor’s shotgun-style home off its foundation and tossed it about 20 feet away. Across the street, neighbor Edward Cross, 69, said he and his wife Nettie, 66, also didn’t heed the sirens. Instead, he lifted the blinds of his back windows to look out toward the town’s middle school and the courthouse.

At that point, Cross said the “big black cloud” loomed right in front of him.

“I didn’t have time to go nowhere, I just grabbed a hold of the wall and held on,” Cross said. The storm tore away a quarter of their home’s roof.

The violent weather was part of a system that caused damage throughout the South and parts of the Midwest. As the storms moved east, hail and high winds were reported in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Power was out in many parts of the region.

Southeast of Nashville in Rutherford County, a sheriff’s dispatcher said “multiple tornado touchdowns” were reported Friday in various parts of the county.

Brian Smith, general manager at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in the area along Interstate 24, said he saw a “pretty wide” tornado and that he “could see debris in the air from the rotation.”

A tornado Friday destroyed two homes and knocked down trees and power lines near the community of Mannington, Ky., in Christian County, weather service meteorologist Robin Smith said in Paducah. Smith said the storm also dumped hail, some as large as eggs, throughout Christian and Lyon counties.

The weather service said a woman was injured at Shreveport, La., when a tree fell onto her car during a tornado. Twisters also damaged homes east of Vinita and near Muse in Oklahoma and at Crossett in far southern Arkansas, near the Louisiana line.

Mena’s storm destroyed a city plant that makes gaskets for air conditioners and an ice manufacturer. Small business owners swept up glass from their sidewalks in the downtown in a city known for its remodeled homes from the 1800s and century-old trees, said Prosecutor Tim Williamson.

The town once looked “pastoral,” Williamson said. “It’s not anymore.”

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Deadly fires, tornadoes rage across US

CHICAGO (AFP) — Firefighters battled deadly wildfires while rescue workers dug through the rubble left by tornados after a strong storm system cut a swath of destruction from Texas to Tennessee.

At least eight people were killed, dozens were injured and hundreds of homes and businesses were reduced to ash or rubble.

One of the fires appears to have been deliberately set, officials said.

“We haven’t proved that there was malice but we do know that the fire was intentionally set,” Jerry Lojka of the Midwest City, Oklahoma fire department told reporters.

The Oklahoman newspaper reported that teenagers were spotted in the area before the fire which destroyed 17 homes was sparked Thursday.

Oklahoma’s governor declared a state of emergency in 31 counties where 62 people were injured and about 200 homes and business were destroyed by the fires and a tornado which touched down on the eastern edge of the state.

“Our firefighters and first responders have done an outstanding job in the face of daunting fires, and these brave men and women have our heartfelt gratitude. They are true heroes,” Governor Brad Henry said.

“But there is much more to do, and the State of Oklahoma will do everything in its power to ensure help for those people who need it most.”

Three people were killed and 32 homes destroyed in Texas as high winds fueled 49 major fires which burned 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) in the Lone Star state and filled the skies with thick clouds of smoke, the Texas Forest Service said.

Some 161 homes have been destroyed in drought-stricken Texas since January 1 as wildfires swallowed some 240,000 acres (97,000 hectares) and the governor of Texas issued an emergency declaration for 199 counties Friday.

A former television journalist and his wife were among the dead when their home was engulfed in flames Thursday, WFAA news in Dallas reported.

The fires devastated two small towns north of Dallas as high winds and bone dry conditions fueled the flames which raced across parched fields and swallowed homes, the station reported.

Winds as strong as 112 kilometers (70 miles) per hour fanned the flames that engulfed 12 counties in the northern part of the state, as the governor’s office activated Texas Military Forces to provide assistance, including two helicopters, in fighting the blazes, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

The winds eased in Texas on Friday, but firefighters continued to battle 20 major blazes.

A mother and her nine-week-old baby were killed and 35 people were hurt when a tornado tore through the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee around 12:35 pm (1635 GMT) Friday, officials said.

“There was substantial damage,” said Murfreesboro police spokesman Kyle Evans as he described the twisted path the tornado wove through town.

“We are in a search and rescue mode. We’re going door to door, house to house looking for any potential people who are trapped in their homes.”

Three people were killed and 23 were hurt after a tornado touched down in the town of Mena on Thursday evening, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said.

The storms damaged more than 150 homes and businesses in 11 Arkansas counties.

Link

Tornado wallops Ark. town; 3 killed, dozens hurt

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer

MENA, Ark. – Authorities began a house-to-house search Friday to check on residents after a tornado struck a “direct hit” on this mountain community, killing at least three people, injuring at least 30 others and flattening homes and businesses.

The twister descended quickly on Mena shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday after a series of siren blasts warned residents of tornadoes in the area.

Daylight exposed a community ripped apart. Century-old pecan trees leaned into homes — some with pink insulation strung from their limbs. Along some streets, roofs had collapsed into homes. On other streets, roofs were simply gone.

“It just looks like a war zone,” Mayor George McKee said.

Thurman Allen, 79, said his charitable group, the Order of the Eastern Star, had just sat down for its twice-monthly meeting at the Masonic lodge when the last siren sounded. Before the 19 attendees could take cover, the tornado peeled away the roof with winds so strong that some women had their shoes ripped off their feet.

“I was down on the floor — I just flattened,” Allen said.

One woman was killed by falling debris — her body recovered after emergency workers cut part of the roof away.

Elsewhere in the Ouachita Mountains town, Marion Boyt, 76, said he survived after rushing into a small closet with his son and daughter-in-law.

“I guess we got skinny because we were so scared,” he said.

Boyt said one of those killed died when the roof of a two-story home collapsed.

The body of the third person killed was found in her front yard, county’s emergency coordinator James Reeves said. Authorities have not released the names of those killed pending notification of their families.

National Guard troops patrolled the downtown of this city of 5,700 residents. An overnight curfew was put in effect as emergency crews dealt with ruptured gas lines, downed power lines, fallen trees and heavily damaged buildings.

Meanwhile, emergency workers were going door-to-door to check on residents, although there were no specific reports of people missing. They said they would likely need help getting around fallen trees.

Prosecutor Tim Williamson said dispatchers at the county courthouse had been trapped inside immediately after the storm, and that the county jail was “uninhabitable.” Inmates were transfered to nearby counties, said the office of County Judge Ray Stanley.

The twister tore the roof off a local community college building and destroyed two businesses at the city’s industrial park, Williamson said.

Mena Middle School also sustained significant roof damage, principal Mike Hobson said. One portable classroom was destroyed and that part of the auditorium’s roof was ripped away, and administrators would have to discuss when classes can resume, Hobson said.

Rick Lanman, who manages the Mena Airport, said darkness fell quickly as the tornado crossed the Oklahoma border 10 miles away.

“Me and the dog ran to the bathroom when we saw it on the TV,” Lanman said. “It was here in less than a minute.”

Mena sirens sounded for earlier storms north and south of town. When they sounded a fourth time, “experience was telling me that we were in trouble,” said Lanman, who said he been through tornadoes before in Oklahoma and Illinois.

The violent weather was part of a system that caused damage throughout the South and parts of the Midwest. The National Weather Service said a woman was injured at Shreveport, La., when a tree fell onto her car during a tornado. Twisters also damaged homes east of Vinita and near Muse in Oklahoma and at Crossettin far southern Arkansas, near the Louisiana line.

As the storms moved east, hail and high winds were reported in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Power was out in many parts of the region.

The injured were taken to Mena Medical Center for treatment.

Reeves, the emergency coordinator, said he had never seen such a powerful storm hit the tornado-prone region.

“Not in my lifetime,” he said. “The last tornado we had to hit the city of Mena was in November 1993. This time we had significant structures (hit).”