A tornado slams Little Rock, smashing rooftops

The Rolling Fork tornado killed at a twister in Little Rock, Mississippi, and it destroyed a Little Rock shopping center and medical center

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center forecast an outbreak of storms that could cause hail, damaging wind gusts and strong tornadoes and put over 85 million people under weather advisories.

“Residents are advised to remain weather-aware and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts,” the Weather Prediction Center said. The threat of severe weather can bring with it intense rain rates that can last long enough to create isolated areas of flash flooding.

Last week, an overnight tornado leveled nearly the entire community of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where estimated maximum winds of 170 mph roared through. At least 26 people died and dozens were injured when a powerful storm system moved through the Southeast.

Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Louisville are among the places that have been listed in the Level 2 of 5 risk of severe storms.

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

A medical center in Little Rock is at a mass casualty level, according to a spokeswoman. Several people had already been transported to the medical center, but an exact count was not immediately available.

Heavy-Dust Driven Tornadoes and Large Hail in Little Rock, Illinois, and Benton, with the Clinton National Airport

A husband called to say a tornado was on the way and resident Niki Scott took cover in the bathroom. She could hear glass shattering as the tornado roared past, and emerged afterward to find that her house was one of the few on her street that didn’t have a tree fall on it.

The Little Rock Fire Department reported on its Facebook page heavy damage and that firefighters were doing rescues in the western part of the city.

“Praying for all those who were and remain in the path of this storm,” she wrote on Twitter. “Arkansans must keep their eyes on the weather as storms move through.”

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.

About 32,000 were without power in neighboring Oklahoma, where where wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph fueled fast-moving grass fires. People were told to leave homes in far northeastern Oklahoma City while troopers shut down portions of I-35 near the suburb of Edmond.

Preliminary information shows at least 22 tornadoes were reported in Illinois, eight in Iowa, four in Tennessee, five in Wisconsin and a couple in Mississippi.

On Friday, large hail proved to be dangerous when it bombarded northern Illinois, cracking and denting cars’ windshields, according to a Facebook post.

The National Weather Service has issued tornado watches for Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa, western Illinois and parts of Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Forecasters warned of a “relatively rare, significant severe weather threat” around Chicago that could include powerful winds, tornadoes and large hail.

Storms and tornadoes forecast for northern Iowa, South Dakota, and North Little Rock, Arkansas, with an application to Sullivan, Indiana

In Iowa City, the University of Iowa canceled Friday’s watch party for fans who planned to gather for the women’s basketball Final Four game against South Carolina.

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. There were many warnings about the storm.

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.

More than 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes were made Friday in six states, including in Arkansas, where two people were killed and another in North Little Rock.

Two people were killed in Indiana by a storm Friday night that damaged homes and a volunteer fire department near Sullivan, a city about a 95-mile drive southwest of Indianapolis, State Police Sgt. Matt Ames said.

KATV Report on a US-Severe-Surface-South-Midwest-Saturday Storm

William Williams, who told CNN affiliate KATV he’s an employee at a Kroger supermarket in Little Rock, said he’s “thankful to be alive” after a tornado rolled near the area while he was working Friday afternoon. He went to see the injured after taking shelter inside the store.

“Everything happened in like five seconds. Williams told KATV that it came. “You could hear a lot of commotion and stuff. It is crazy when I go outside. People had blood all over their faces. I’m thankful I’m alive.

The Mayor of the city of Wynne said that it was cut in half by the damage from the east to the west.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/01/us/us-severe-storm-south-midwest-saturday/index.html

Loss of the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, During a Day-Initio Storm on April 30, 2015

In northern Illinois, more than 200 people were inside the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere for an event when its roof collapsed Friday night, leaving one person dead and dozens injured, the city fire chief said. The collapse came as a line of storms packing 50 mph winds and dumping hail moved through the area, according to officials and the National Weather Service. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the storm caused the theater’s roof to crumble.

Several businesses were damaged or destroyed,Sheriff Jack Campbell told CNN, and up to 40 homes were damaged around Sherman, less than 10 miles north of Springfield.

Almost 300,000 homes and businesses were in the dark early Saturday across several states with one-third of them in Indiana, according to the website Power Outage.us.

In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency, noting the state will “spare no resource” in responding and recovering from the storm and activated the state’s National Guard.