STORM

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showed evidence of an EF-2 tornado in Paragould, with estimated peak winds of 125 mph, early Saturday.

The preliminary report showed the storm went about 6 miles, with a 150-yard maximum width from the southwest part of town into Paragould, around 12:20 a.m.

Counts also said two tornadoes also went through Sharp County around 10 p.m. Friday.

'The first storm came from Izard County, went through the Ash Flat and Highland communities and continuing down Highway 63 to the county line,' Counts said.

'The second storm came through approximately 20 minutes later from Independence County through Cave City and traveling on (Highway) 115 to the county line.'

Counts said the county's OEM and road departments, along with first responders went to the area. Power crews have also been working to restore power and officials are asking people to stay off the roads, if at all possible in the county as crews work to clear the roads of debris.

Paragould Mayor Josh Agee said at least four people received minor injuries due to the storm going through his town early Saturday. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

Agee said at least 160 homes in Paragould also received damage, mainly in the Pruetts Chapel area, due to the weather and that first responders soon began checking houses to help people impacted.

The crews worked at least two and a half hours to check several hundred houses in the area, went to a staging area around 6 a.m. Saturday to regroup and checked the area again early Saturday morning. The city also issued a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday to allow for families to begin regrouping and to avoid any sort of rubber necking or threat of bad intentions.

The area impacted by the storms was barricaded off, with only residents and people working to rebuild homes allowed in the neighborhoods, Agee said. People who will be working to rebuild must get a permit from the city and can go to the city’s Facebook page to find out more about it.

The city’s landfill was open this weekend to help with the cleanup. Agee said area groups are also helping residents with food, with the 7th and Mueller Street Church of Christ hosting a dinner Saturday afternoon for people impacted by the storm.

A supply drive was also set up in Paragould at the Neighborhood Market on Highway 49 as well as the Walmart Supercenter on Highway 412.

In a video message on social media Sunday, Agee said the storms damaged 7 of the city's 16 tornado sirens. The mayor said crews were out this weekend, inspecting the sirens and doing an inventory of parts needed. He said officials would be working to get the damaged sirens replaced as quickly as possible.

In the interim, the mayor said the city has a program available, called 'Code Red.' The program allows officials to send a text or phone call to someone if there is an emergency.

He said at least 21,000 phones were alerted in Paragould early Saturday when the storms rolled in, noting the system along with reports from area media helped to notify people quickly.

Federal and state officials Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also issued a state of emergency in the state to allow for heavy equipment and emergency response vehicles to be brought in to help people impacted.

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Gov. Sanders, who also toured the Cave City and Paragould areas Saturday afternoon, said teams have also been sent out to survey damage from the storms and first responders were on the ground to assist people in need.

The governor also announced that she had released $250,000 from the state’s Disaster Recovery Fund to help provide resources for communities impacted by the storm.

Other federal and state officials said they are also working to help people impacted.

Rep. Rick Crawford (RJonesboro) also said that his thoughts and prayers were with the people impacted by the storms.

“Praying for all those impacted by last night’s dangerous tornadoes in Northeast AR and those lives tragically lost. My team is in close contact with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and is closely monitoring developments on the ground,” Rep.

Crawford said on social media. “I plan to visit the affected areas over the next week to allow for emergency response efforts to get underway. If you need any assistance in the aftermath of last night’s severe weather, please reach out to my office.”

Arkansas House Speaker Brian Evans (R-Cabot) said officials are also working to help people in the Cave City area.

“The people of Cave City are facing unimaginable challenges right now. I’ve been in communication with Rep. Bart Schulz to ensure his district has the resources they need to begin recovery. I ask all Arkansans to join me in praying for those impacted by last night’s storms,” Rep. Evans said.

Regional Reports

In addition to the tornado in Cave City, there were reports of tornadoes in Franklin around 10 p.m., in the Calamine community around 10:55 p.m. and west of Black Rock around 11 p.m., according to NWS.

Officials said a roof was blown off a house near Black Rock.

Also, an ArDOT camera appeared to have caught an image of a tornado moving through Campbell Station around 11:30 p.m., just off I-57/US 67. The NWS said that radar indicated there was a debris signature in the area.

In addition to the tornadoes, there was also reports of hail. Black Rock received ping-pong sized hail late Friday night, while Weiner and an area southwest of Jonesboro had reports of one inch hail, NWS said.

Storm shelters were also available in Craighead County, just in case, both city and county officials said on social media.

Craighead County Judge Marvin Day said at least 200 people used the storm shelter at the Craighead County Courthouse Annex Friday evening.

Power outages

The weather also caused power outages in and around the area and state.

By Saturday morning, Entergy had around 11,000 customers in Arkansas without power with nearly a quarter of them in Sharp County.

Around 320 customers were without power in Jackson County, while around 550 customers in Randolph County were also without power. By around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, crews had worked to reduce the 11,000 to around 4,200 with the vast majority of outages in Sharp, Independence and Jackson counties.

Entergy had reduced the 4,200 outages to around 1,200 on Sunday afternoon, with about half of the outages in the state reported in Sharp County.

Craighead Electric also reported outages Saturday, including around 900 in Lawrence County, around 200 in Randolph County, 150 in Greene County, around 80 in Craighead County and about 50 customers in Sharp County.

The number was reduced to around 850 customers, with the majority of outages in Lawrence and Ran-

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dolph counties.

Officials with Paragould Municipal Utilities said on social media that the utility faced widespread outages early Saturday due to the weather.

Power was restored Saturday morning, with PMU crews getting assistance from Jonesboro City Water and Light, officials said.

Jonesboro CWL brought several crews up Highway 49 to help PMU with restoring power.

According to NWS, the temperatures are expected to be higher this week with highs in the 70s.