Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Second Storm Within 12 Months

Saturday, March 1, was Memorial Day 1996 revisited for several residents in the Center Ridge community.

Last Memorial Day, a tornado swept through causing thousands of dollars in damage, but causing no injuries.

March 1, the area was again struck by a twister, with more damage being done, and, fortunately, still no injuries.

According to Jim Caldwell, Gurdon's street superintendent, and a resident of the area affected, the tornado followed the same path as before, only hitting different houses this time.

He said his son's house had a ventilator damaged because of flying debris, while Elsie Clark (whose home was heavily damaged last May) had the side of a tractor shed torn out.

A mobile home was literally rolled along Sticky Road (Highway 182), with someone in it at the time. However, the person was able to get out and attempted to run, but was again caught by the tornadic winds. She was rolled through a field, sustaining cuts and bruises, but none serious.

A mobile home owned by Jewel Rickets was damaged before the storm wreaked its havoc on a double-wide owned by Robert and Mary Burns.

Pine trees in the yard of the Burns' were toppled like children's blocks, while one tree landed on a carport, crushing it and damaging a vehicle inside. The home was also damaged by a falling tree.

Caldwell said the twister then hit the home of Tom Wingfield and demolished a trailer owned by Bobby John Wells.

Shingles were stripped from the home of James Wingfield, which also had a tree fall on it.

One double-wide trailer was taken from its slab and no trace of it has been found as of yet. Also at this point, a semi was overturned. The truck later caught fire and burned.

Once the twister left South Fork Road, it crossed Highway 53 north of the South Fork Truck Stop and hit the Shiloh Community, where it again ripped trees out of the ground, pulled shingles from the roofs of houses and knocked windows out.

When the tornado was finished in the Shiloh area, it crossed Interstate 30 and demolished Honky's Truck Stop.

Caldwell said the tornado was a quarter to a mile wide at times during this trip through the area, and caused damage along a three mile stretch of South Fork Road.

He said he saw and heard the twister, adding it sounded like a dozen trains coming through.

Caldwell was able to notify the Clark County Office of Emergency Services Coordinator, Jim Burns, who was able to give Arkadelphia residents about 28 minutes advance warning of the approaching twister.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees were blown down along the South Fork Road, with several pine trees being ripped up by the roots.

Because of their root structure, pine trees normally snap or get twisted apart by tornadoes, while oak trees, and other trees with shallow tap roots are uprooted.

Fortunately, there were relatively few houses in the affected area, or the destruction and loss of life could have been much worse.