The Little Rock tornado smashed rooftops and flipped vehicles

The Collision of a Tornado in the Little Rock and Little Rock Valleys: Statewide Weather Warnings and Warnings to Emergency Medical Emergency Services

The weather service is expecting many tornadoes and issued tornado watches over both high-risk regions until Friday evening.

“Residents are advised to remain weather-aware and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts,” the Weather Prediction Center said. “Along with the severe weather threat, storms may also contain intense rainfall rates that could last long enough to produce isolated-to-scattered areas of flash flooding.”

Last Friday night, a vicious tornado in Mississippi killed at least 21 people, injured dozens and flattened entire blocks as it carved a path of destruction for more than an hour. About 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

In the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, there is a slight risk of severe storms in a Level 2 of 5.

The twister tore first through neighborhoods in west Little Rock, and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock was operating at a mass casualty level, spokesperson Leslie Taylor said. The exact number of people taken to the medical center was not immediately available.

Little Rock Arkansas as a Tornado Damage Event: Niki Scott, a Twin Twin, and her husband — One on the street when a tornado hit

After her husband called to tell her a tornado was going to hit, Niki Scott took cover in the bathroom. She emerged from her house after the tornado passed to find that it was one of only a few on her street that had a tree fall on it.

The Little Rock Fire Department stated on its Facebook page that they were carrying out rescue operations around the western end of the city.

She wrote on her social media accounts that she was praying for those who were in the path of the storm. Arkansasans must continue to stay aware of the weather.

Passengers and airport employees at Clinton National Airport took shelter in bathrooms and were ordered to stay there until 3:45 p.m. Aerial footage showed several rooftops were torn from homes in Little Rock and nearby Benton.

In Oklahoma, the wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph caused rapid-fire grass fires. People were urged to evacuate homes in far northeast Oklahoma City and the interstate was shut down near the suburb of Edmond.

It was not known how much damage the tornadoes caused or whether they were small or large. The sheriff’s department reported there were no injuries when the plane touched down in an empty field.

In Illinois, Ben Wagner, chief radar operator for the Woodford County Emergency Management Agency, said hail broke windows on cars and buildings in the area of Roanoke, northeast of Peoria.

All told, by Friday afternoon, tornado watches issued by the National Weather Service cover most of Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa; western Illinois; and parts of Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

There was a severe weather threat around Chicago that could include tornadoes and large hail.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1167521726/little-rock-arkansas-tornado-damage

High winds and heavy rain in South Dakota, canceled Iowa City women’s basketball game, and forecasts for the first 10 days of April

The watch party in Iowa City for women’s basketball fans was canceled because of the Final Four game.

The hazardous forecast is a result of strong southerly winds transporting copious amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico north, where they will interact with the strengthening storm system.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem ordered state executive branch offices to be closed Friday in parts of the state, as freezing rain, snow and high winds were expected. Many counties were under blizzard or ice storm warnings.

The weather service is forecasting another batch of intense storms next Tuesday in the same general area as last week. At least the first 10 days of April will be rough, Accuweather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said earlier this week.