Tornado kills 3 in Arkansas…
At least three people were killed, and five critically injured after a suspected tornado hit northwestern Arkansas Friday morning, authorities said.
The three died in the small town of Cincinnati in Washington County, which is now also facing power outages after the strong storm went through, said Ann Upton, the county’s emergency management deputy.
The storm injured at least 12 people and caused damage in neighboring Benton County, near the Arkansas state lines with Oklahoma and Missouri, officials said.
She said she had also heard reports that “several people were trapped.”
Six homes and four chicken production facilities were destroyed in the storm, while five homes suffered moderate to heavy damage, said Matt Garrity, Benton County’s manager of emergency services.
A fire station, three buildings and one store were also damaged, said Garrity, and an airport that serves northwestern Arkansas was closed due to debris in the area.
“We are in part of tornado alley,” he said. “So even a small storm does a lot of damage.”
Emergency crews are currently surveying the extent of the damage and “making sure that no one is trapped,” he said.
The storm also killed two horses, according to Garrity.
Elsewhere, the fast-moving storm caused injuries and damage in Pulaski and Laclede Counties in Missouri, knocking out power at Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army base that took a direct hit from an apparent tornado, according to Laclede County Emergency Management spokesman Gail Teter.
Teter reported some injuries, though initial attempts to contact the base were unsuccessful.
The line of storms that moved through Oklahoma and into northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri, have reached speeds of 40 mph and are heading toward more populated areas in Saint Louis, Missouri and the surrounding municipalities.
The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management issued a tornado advisory as bad weather lingered in the state, instructing residents to seek shelter in their home’s interior rooms or on its lowest floor.
“When a tornado is sighted, the most important rule is to get low and stay low,” the statement said.
