Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Arkadelphia Nearly Destroyed As Tornado Strikes

Death and destruction rained from the skies Saturday, when a series of tornadoes touched down in Arkadelphia.

When the skies cleared and the twisters moved on to claim the rest of the 24 lives taken during the storms, six were dead in Clark County, more than 100 injured and one-third of the city destroyed.

The city was cordoned off by members of the Arkansas National Guard, along with the Arkansas State Police, Clark County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies. In fact, the Hope Police Department sent officers, as did the Hempstead County Sheriff's Office and Nevada County Sheriff's Office, along with the Prescott Police Department.

But nothing could prepare the officers and other rescue workers for the sight they would see.

It was complete devastation. One worker said the situation reminded him of Beirut, Lebanon. Hempstead County Sheriff Jerry Crane likened the destruction to his days in Vietnam. Still others compared the scene to Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the dropping of the first atomic bombs at the end of World War II.

The storm cell spawned its first twister near Fulton in Hempstead County, with the tornado veering off toward Spring Hill. Neither community, though was damaged.

Another tornado from the single cell storm flashed along Interstate-30, with the destruction starting near Perrytown, also in Hempstead County.

Here, several homes were damaged, with one cricket farm being completely destroyed.

A tractor-trailer rig was overturned in the median as if some child had discarded a toy.

Traffic signs were ripped out of the ground or bent over as the I-30 tornado began gaining strength.

The next stop was in Prescott, where three homes were demolished, including a horse farm, which lost several horses and had to have others destroyed.

Still, the I-30 tornado gained strength as it began bouncing along the interstate, wreaking havoc and leaving nothing but suffering in its path.

It next visited the Center Ridge area north of Gurdon, an area which had suffered tornado damage on May 31, 1996, and was still rebuilding from it.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said several homes were damaged by fallen trees in the area, along with more destruction in the South Fork Community.

However, there were no major injuries at this point. One person had been slightly injured in Nevada County, after being cut by flying glass.

While the South Fork Truck Stop was fortunate in being missed, Honky's wasn't.

The high winds, more than 200 miles per hour, struck Honky's, pushing in one side, ripping off portions of the roof and ripping trees out of the ground.

Then, people in Arkadelphia experienced a glimpse of hell. It has been said the tornadoes that touched down in the county seat were rated F-4, almost the worst a twister can be.

An F-5 is the highest rating for a tornado, and these supertornadoes are normally a mile wide, packing winds between 261 and 318 mph.

Fully one-third of Arkadelphia was wiped out by Saturday's tornadoes. Reports showed at least three separate funnel clouds touched down in the city, causing six to lose their lives and more than 100 to be injured.

Shortly after the storm left the area, rescue workers began the grisly search for bodies and injured. These volunteers combed the wreckage on a house to house basis, calling for friends and loved ones, or just trying to help those in need.

Members of the Guard patrolled the area, also looking for survivors, but working to prevent any looting from occurring.

The search was made difficult by the downed power lines and trees blocking the street.

In the area of Walnut Street, the destruction was beyond belief. Where a trailer park once was, only rubble remained.

People who lived in the area walked around dazed, sifting through the remains for valuables or mementoes of what used to be.

Neighbors helped one another, or just clung to each other in relief and grief.

The smell of natural gas was obvious in the are of what was the Walnut Trailer Park. Saturday morning, there were 57 mobile homes in the park. By Saturday night, this number had been reduced to 1, as the quarter-mile wide tornado ravaged the area, killing four in the trailer park.

Saturday's killer twisters were the most destructive since May 15, 1968, when 34 people were killed by a tornado in Jonesboro.

Officials with the National Weather Service said Saturday's storm cell spawned 14 tornadoes.

Before night fell in Clark County, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had declared the region, and nine other counties hit by the storm, a disaster areas. President Bill Clinton followed suit Sunday, proclaiming 10 counties as disaster areas, eligible for federal aid.

James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was in Arkansas Monday to assess the damage and coordinate federal relief efforts.

Sunday, the Arkansas Baptist State Relief Unit from Little Rock set up a mass food line and prepared lunch for 1,000 people.

Historic downtown Arkadelphia was also hammered by the tornado. The Clark County Courthouse had windows blown out and the new clock severely damaged.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office sustained heavy damage, as did two banks in the downtown area. In all, six blocks of downtown Arkadelphia were destroyed.

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller said Saturday's storm was a tragedy of unspeakable magnitude.

He praised the response effort, saying the emergency personnel responded well and did what they were trained to do in such situations.

"Everything is going better than expected," he said. "But we need to be aware this is only the beginning of the effort.

"There's a lot of work to do ahead: repair, reconstruction, getting people into homes. We'll see how good we really are."

Rockefeller said Americans are renown for being the first to respond in times of disaster when aid is needed.

Now, he said, the next two to six months will tell the tale. During this time period, people affected by the tornado will need help getting on their feet and into shelter of some kind. "It's a critical issue," he said. "We might be able to use Habitat for Humanity to help the victims. We need to look at the long term solutions."

According to a release from the governor's office, state agency directors have been instructed to work together on tornado damage relief and recovery efforts.

This, Huckabee said, is because the damaged area spans about 260 miles, including 18 counties.

This effort will be organized through the Arkansas Employment Security Division. The telephone numbers for the operations center are (501) 682-5625 and 682-1539. The fax number is 682-2273.