BEARDEN — The full extent of the damage caused by a tornado in Bearden Sunday was revealed as daylight broke Monday and the town began its efforts to clean up.
The National Weather Service said the EF-1 tornado traveled about 5.8 miles from Calhoun County into Bearden, where significant damage was reported but no one was injured.
[CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM BEARDEN]
Several homes in Bearden were damaged by the wind and flying debris, including one small white house destroyed under the weight of a fallen tree. A ramp from a local skate park was blown against a leaning telephone pole. Pieces of corrugated metal were blown into a tree, their rattling in the wind one of the few sounds on the mostly deserted street early Monday.
Bearden Fire Chief A.W. Evans said about 8 homes were damaged in the storm, but the Red Cross did not have to provide shelter anyone Sunday night.
The house on Cedar Street that had been destroyed by a falling tree was not lived in and served as a youth center for the Methodist Church, he said.
As the sun poked through, briefly creating a rainbow over the area, several residents walked around surveying the damage.
Michael Arnold, who arrived home after the late-afternoon storm, said his home was not damaged, but was struck by the amount of work left to be done Monday.
"I'm just gonna ask if anyone needs help cleaning up," he said. "The community has to get together."
The sidewalk was roped off in front of the Bearden Bargain Store where bricks from the facade lay scattered on the ground.
The exterior wall was bowed out by winds and water had damaged the inside of 150-year-old building, leaving its future use in question, said owner Marjorie Stamps.
"I'd like to save it, it's got a lot of history," Stamps said.
Dustin Hall, a local amateur storm chaser, showed a video of what appeared to be a a twister to a reporter as he surveyed the destroyed youth center Monday.
In the video, violent winds whip in rotation, bending trees as they move across Main Street toward where the greatest destruction was left.
"It touched down in the mill yard and hoped over the rail tracks and right through [Cedar Street]" Hall said. " I just started yelling and screaming everybody get inside."
Local authorities were also surveying the extent of the damage Monday, setting up a command
post at the Bearden Fire Department several blocks from the tornado's path.
Bearden police Deputy Gary Floyd said police had flown a drone over the area to get a bird's-eye-view, and it appeared a three to four block area had been hit.
Aerial footage from bearden, AR tornado damage 12/27/15
Posted by Cali Res on Monday, December 28, 2015