CINCINNATI, Ark. — Word spread Tuesday of a fourth death related to the New Year’s Eve tornado that tore through tiny Cincinnati as donations poured in and one family prepared for today’s funeral for two of the victims.
Nell Porter, 95, of Summers died Tuesday, probably from a heart attack and “multisystem trauma” from her injuries in the storm, the Washington County coroner’s office reported.
The three people who died the day of the storm were residents of Cincinnati in western Washington County, about 2 miles east of the Oklahoma state line. They were Gerald Dean “Buck” Wilson, 88; his wife, Mamie Wilson, 78; and James Richard “Dick” Murray, 78.
A funeral for the Wilsons is planned for 10 a.m. today at Summers Missionary Baptist Church in Summers. The service for Murray is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at the church.
The storm touched down in Cincinnati at 6:09 a.m. Friday, while it was still dark. The 140-mph winds ripped houses away from terrified residents, some of whom said they were airborne for a few seconds.
The National Weather Service said the twister was 300 yards wide when it sliced through Cincinnati, then grew to a width of 500 yards as it cut a 21-mile swath from Adair County, Okla., through Washington County and northeast into Benton County.
Emergency management officials said Tuesday that the tornado destroyed 26 homes - 20 in Washington County, four in Benton County and two in Madison County.
Four people injured in the tornado remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, two at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville who were in good condition and two at Northwest Medical Center in Springdale - one of whom was in critical condition and the other in fair condition.
Hospitals and emergency personnel did not release the names of the injured.
At Cincinnati United Methodist Church, pastor Andy Newbill said Tuesday that unsolicited donations had been flowing in from Arkansans and people in neighboring states.
“I had a guy write me a check for $5,000,” he said. “And another guy wrote a check for $1,300. I’ve had several people hand me $500 in cash and $600 in cash.”
Newbill said companies also have been generous. The church, which has been serving as a command center for the cleanup, has received donations from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., PepsiCo Inc and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Arvest Bank of Lincoln owns four houses in the area that it is allowing tornado victims to stay in temporarily, he said.
“It’s just amazing to see the people coming together,” Newbill said. “And probably the things people lost are not what they need. What they need is to know someone cares for them, and they’re seeing that happen.”
Officials were still working Tuesday to calculate the damage from the storm.
Seventeen homes were destroyed in Cincinnati, said Rick Johnson, deputy director of emergency management for Washington County. Another three houses were destroyed in Tontitown.
The number of damaged homes and injured people hadn’t been determined as of late Tuesday, he said.
Tommy Jackson, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said the dollar amount of the damage probably will not be enough to qualify for federal financial assistance, but the state may provide some assistance to victims.
Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, said that if the individual assistance program is opened to aid tornado victims, the amount of money they receive wouldn’t be enough to compensate them for all their losses.
“When we’ve done that in the past ... it’s been on a limited basis,” said DeCample. “It’s not going to make anybody whole. One thing that seems certain in this case is that we are not going to qualify for federal aid.”
DeCample said the state likely will reimburse counties for part of their cleanup and administrative expenses, including overtime pay for employees.
Besides homes, Jackson said a dairy barn and seven chicken houses were destroyed in Washington County. The Cincinnati Volunteer Fire Department building also was destroyed.
Jack Meade said the tornado destroyed a school auditorium built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. The storm spared the Meade family’s house next door, which had served as Cincinnati’s one room schoolhouse until about 1950. The two buildings were connected by a deck. A plaque noting the WPA building was under the collapsed wall of the auditorium. Meade said the building’s rock walls were 18 inches thick.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/05/2011