Another spring, another storm

Tornadoes strike Arkansas again over Memorial Day weekend

By MICHAEL WILKEY

mwilkey@paragoulddailypress.com

As if Arkansans needed a reminder how volatile and violent the weather can be this time of year, this past Memorial Day weekend saw yet another round of deadly storms roll through The Natural State.

A storm system Sunday evening, May 26, brought heavy winds, caused power outages and a pair of tornadoes in Paragould, as crews worked late into the evening to help people impacted.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm moved into Paragould around 11 p.m. Sunday, with strong winds and up to 1.5-inch hail. There were reports of damage to homes along a path from Spring Grove Road to Carroll Road from the storm that traveled adjacent to Pruett’s Chapel Road.

The National Weather Service office in Memphis said Monday afternoon that a preliminary EF-2 tornado happened Sunday evening, based on damage reports.

The EF-2 tornado, which cut a threeand- a-half-mile path across Paragould around 11 p.m. Sunday, had estimated winds of 120 mph and had a maximum width of 200 yards.

Late Monday, the NWS said a preliminary EF-1 tornado also happened near the Craighead/ Greene County line. Officials said the EF-1 tornado, which happened about 25 minutes later, had estimated winds of 105 mph, was about a mile in length and had a 75-yard maximum width.

No injuries have been reported.

Greene County Judge Rusty McMillon said that crews were working to get trees and debris cleared out Monday. A roof was blown completely off a house while a nearby carport was also destroyed.

McMillon said damage was reported at the Club View Estates and Enclave areas, near the Paragould Country Club. He said his office has been working with the county’s Office of Emergency Management on the storms and that officials were awaiting the arrival of National Weather Service teams to look at storm damage.

Paragould Mayor Josh Agee said he also spoke with McMillon and Paragould Public Works Director Adam Followell about the damage. Agee thanked PMU crews, along with road crews, who worked through the middle of the night to help restore power and to clear roads.

To the north, there were reports of hail in Clay County.

The National Weather Service reported 1.5-inch hail in the Success area around 10 p.m., while one-inch hail was also reported in Corning around the same time.

The storm caused Greene County officials to open up the city/county emergency operations center Sunday evening.

Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder said on social media Sunday evening that power lines and power poles were reported down on County Road 931, near the Greene/Craighead County line.

A house, on the Greene County line, lost its roof due to the damage, Snyder said.

Snyder said both Paragould Municipal Utilities and Craighead Electric crews were out working Sunday evening to assess the damage and to help restore power.

PMU crews worked to get power restored to a large part of town, with crews working on areas near South Rockingchair, Spring Grove Road and Pruett’s Chapel Road.

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This shop on Sandy Lane in Paragould took a direct hit from the EF2 tornado that touched down during overnight storms on Sunday, May 26, in Greene County.

File photo

A neighborhood Facebook group in Centerton shared this photo of a tornado that struck Northwest Arkansas on May 26. The super-cell also produced deadly straight-line winds which were believed to be responsible for at least one fatality.

Photo courtesy of Facebook Continued from page 15

Paragould Municipal Utilities also reported on social media that the storms briefly knocked out its phone system. However, officials said they were able to send crews out to help restore power.

Craighead Electric crews also worked to check out the areas along County Road 931 as well.

Both the Greene County Road Department and Paragould Public Works were also busy Sunday evening, helping to clear storm debris from roads. Snyder said on social media that all roads were open as of early Monday.

Sunday’s storms had a wide impact across the region. According to the Associated Press, at least 22 people were killed in the storms.

In addition to Arkansas, areas in Oklahoma and Texas were hammered with severe weather. A two-year-old and a five-year-old were killed Saturday evening in a tornado in Texas, while eight deaths were reported in Arkansas.

Locally, Agee said the area has seen a lot of severe weather in the past few days from flooding and severe storms in Jonesboro last Wednesday to wind damage in Pocahontas to hail damage in Clay County over the weekend.

However, Agee said he believes the community, with no injuries and only damage to houses, dodged the proverbial bullet on the severe weather.

“We’ve been really lucky,” Agee said.

At the same time Northeast Arkansas was experiencing dangerous weather conditions, the National Weather Service was tracking a storm system that caused significant damage in Benton County The NWS conducted storm surveys from Rogers County, Oklahoma through Carroll County, Arkansas and residents there reported extensive damage by the long-track supercell, which also had high-end straight-line wind damage close to its rear downdraft

confirmed tornadoes..

On the Northeast side of Owasso of Rogers County, a tornado developed and moved through Claremore, Oklahoma. It likely disappeared northwest of Pryor, Oklahoma.

Decatur, a town in Benton County, Arkansas had two tornadoes that occurred close by which was also examined by NWS. EF3 damage was located northwest of the town.

The tornado possibly started in eastern Delaware County, Oklahoma. NWS aims to have its paths finalized later today.

Damage west of Centerton in Benton County was also examined. Two tornadoes occurred in the area, including one that produced EF2 levels of damage based on radar data and damage patterns.

And just an example of how it doesn’t take a tornado to be deadly, straight-line wind damage occurred throughout the county, spreading through Bentonville and into parts of Rogers and the War Eagle area. Tornados were confirmed to have occurred in areas to the north of where straight-line wind damage was found. According to Sunday’s survey, added with a review of radar data, NWS believes that one death in a mobile home east of Rogers and close to Beaver Lake came from straight-line wind damage. Wind speeds in that area were estimated to be 80 to 90 miles per hour, based on extensive tree and home damage.

No three-day weekend for linemen in Northeast Arkansas. A Paragould Municipal Utilities employee works to repair a line on Memorial Day at the intersection of Pruett’s Chapel Road and South Rockingchair. Many Paragould residents lost power, at least briefly, following storms the previous night. The harder hit areas took a little longer to restore.

File photo