State’s killer tornado rated an EF4

The tornado that struck central Arkansas on Sunday, killing 15 people and splintering homes, ripped through Vilonia and Mayflower as an EF4 with winds of nearly 200 mph, National Weather Service officials said Wednesday.

Survey teams over three days inspected damage left by Sunday’s storm and confirmed that five twisters hit the state.

The strongest was the tornado that formed 5.4 miles west of Ferndale in western Pulaski County at 7:06 p.m. Sunday, where three were killed.

It continued on through Faulkner and White counties before ending 41.3 miles away an hour later.

Eleven died in Mayflower and Vilonia in Faulkner County, and one person died in El Paso in White County.

National Weather Service warning coordinator John Robinson said his teams, along with a survey team from the service’s Tulsa station, made its rating of a “high end” EF4 tornado Wednesday afternoon. An EF4 has winds from 166 to 200 mph.

“One place it was the closest to an EF5 was not far from downtown Vilonia,”Robinson said during a news conference at the weather service’s headquarters in North Little Rock. The width of the tornado’s path was 1,320 yards, or nearly three-quarters of a mile, he said.

He said other stretches of the tornado’s 41-mile track were less turbulent. The other four tornadoes rated between EF0 and EF2.

An EF5 is the highest ranking given to tornadoes on the basis of a scale that assesses damage to structures.

The last EF4 tornado to hit the state was Feb. 5, 2008, when 13 people died as a twister cut a 122-mile path from Atkins to Highland. The state has recorded 28 EF4 tornadoes since 1954, according to weather service records.

Arkansas has had only one EF5 twister. On April 10, 1929, a tornado with winds over 200 mph killed 23 people in Independence and Jackson counties.

After the EF4 twister ended about a mile northeast of El Paso, the system “recycled,” forming a second tornado near Center Hill just west of Searcy at 8:13 p.m. Sunday, Robinson said. That White County tornado traveled 7.4 miles and had winds between 125 mph and 135 mph.

A third one with winds of 70-80 mph touched down at 8:35 p.m. for 1.7 miles in Step rock in White County. A fourth tornado with winds of 90-100 mph cut a 5.3-mile-long path between Velvet Ridge in White County and Denmark in Jackson County at 8:40 p.m.

Finally, a fifth tornado at 8:51 p.m. touched down briefly in Pleasant Plains in Independence County. The twister traveled about three-quarters of a mile with winds of 90-100 mph.

Robinson said damage assessments will continue for the next few days. Weather officials have 18 months to re-evaluate surveys, but an initial EF classification is not typically changed once a tornado is rated, he said.

On Wednesday, crews continued cleaning up the debris.

Traffic on Interstate 40continued to creep through the ravaged section of Mayflower on Wednesday as motorists gawked and slowed to shoot photographs of the rubble that lines the highway.

Along the roadway were a pile of crumpled 18-wheelers coiled together; caved in buildings surrounded by crushed cars; limbless trees that rose and ended in sharp, splintered points.

State Highway and Transportation Department spokesman Danny Straessle said Arkansas 365 in Mayflower remained closed Wednesday, as did U.S. 64B through Vilonia. The Highway Department installed flashing message signs on I-40 Tuesday near either end of the destruction that advised motorists to maintain a minimum speed of 45 mph.

Much of the damage where the tornado crossed the interstate occurred in a construction zone where workers were adding a third lane both eastbound and westbound. A truck carrying electrical transformers flipped during the storm, scattering the transformers and spilling oil that dissolved about 100 feet of newly poured asphalt, Straessle said.

Late Wednesday, Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson reassured victims and residents during an emotional news conference that, while much of the recovery activity thus far has remained “behind the scenes,” law enforcement personnel, first responders, state officials and Federal Emergency Management Agency employees were making progress.

“It’s time to mature the process,” Dodson said. “We look forward to your help.

“People want to get in, and they want to help,” he said. “But we’ve got to do it safely.”

Concerns include waterlines, gas leaks and the use of heavy machinery.

He said Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that relies on military veterans to lead disaster-recovery efforts, will begin managing volunteer resources. The organization’s Dallas office will send a reconnaissance team to Faulkner County, calling the mission “Rising Eagle.”

The county judge said he is also centralizing donations.“That’s another tidal wave,” he said, comparing it to the equally fervent response from Arkansans who want to help clear debris and rebuild. “And that’s heartwarming.”

Adventist Community Services, which responded to the 2011 tornado in Vilonia, will oversee donations.

Flanked by the Mayflower and Vilonia mayors and officials with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and FEMA, Dodson said he wanted county residents to see a show of unity- state and federal officials joining to help.

He broke down and cried while thanking law officers and first responders who were on the scene Sunday evening.

“They’ve gone through trying times,” Dodson said, wiping his eyes. “Our county has undergone a horrific tragedy. You’re in our hearts and in our minds. I hope you find some comfort in that.”

In a news release issued earlier in the day, Faulkner County Attorney David Hogue urged residents to contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency if a debris-hauling contractor identifies himself as “FEMA approved.”

“Residents should be aware that FEMA does not approve any particular contractors, but there are contractors who are barred by FEMA to qualify for financial assistance,” Hogue said in a news release. “If a contractor presents himself as ‘FEMA approved,’ the property owner should contact FEMA to check such credentials.”

In Mayflower, Rob and Pam McGill sorted the broken and twisted items that remained intact in their brick home on River Road Drive West.

The home, built 13 years ago, included a storm room made of 6-inch-thick reinforced concrete. It was into that small room that the McGills and their two sons, 12 and 7, headed Sunday when they heard the tornado-warning siren. A few moments later, they heard the “rumbling, freight train sound” of the tornado that clipped their house.

“From the time our ears started popping until we didn’t hear any more debris, it was possibly 15 to 20 seconds,” recalled Rob McGill, the executive director of Academics Plus Charter School in Maumelle and a former principal and acting superintendent in the Pulaski County Special School District.

The family emerged from the safe room unscathed, but they saw “devastation everywhere,” he said Wednesday.

“Our house is standing, but go 200 yards south of us [and] there were two-story houses that aren’t 5 feet tall down there,” he said. “We didn’t get the brunt of it, but we got plenty of it.”

The McGills packed what they could salvage into a large truck and cars to take to storage or use in the apartment the family will be renting. They plan to demolish what remains of their home and build on a site along the bank of the Arkansas River.

“The new house will definitely include a safe room,” he said. “It will be a little bigger next time. And maybe the walls a little thicker.”

While many sifted the remains of their homes, police said two Faulkner County men were trying to profit from the debris.

Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said he is considering filing felony charges against James Howard, 29, of Morrilton and Dustin Houston, 27, of Conway, who were arrested Tuesday after police said they were stealing copper wire. Hiland said state law allows offenders to be charged with Class D felonies if they are arrested for stealing property worth $100 during an “emergency situation” and with a Class C felony if the property is worth $500.

The “emergency situation” includes any declarations made by county judges, the governor or the president. Faulkner County was declared a federal disaster area by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Hiland said he will review investigators’ reports and determine appropriate charges by Friday.

In the northeast corner of the state, which received heavy rains, officials continued to assess roads damaged by torrential runoff.

Clay County Judge Gary Howell has sought a state disaster declaration for flood-damaged county roads. The area received 5 to 6 inches of rain Sunday evening, causing creeks to rise rapidly and wash out culverts and roads.

“We still have water over roads,” Howell said. “We have a low-water bridge washed out and culverts out everywhere.” He estimated that at least $500,000 worth of damage was done to county roads.

Information for this article was contributed by Scott Carroll and Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.