Tornadoes

There was no escaping the bad weather across Arkansas last night. All of the major networks had constant coverage all night long.
We are under flash flood watch until Sunday and we are still in danger of severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes until this weather event passes. By Monday we should be back to normal.
The tornadoes of April 30 repeatedly threatened the same areas.
Last night at 7:01 p.m. Cleveland County officials reported a tornado touched down near Cleveland in the northern part of the county.
An hour later at 8:06 p.m., the Sweet Home Baptist Church and one other home were destroyed in Center Ridge in Conway County.
By 8:24 p.m., Arkansas State Police reported a tornado on the ground in Culpepper in Van Buren County.
Five minutes later, at 8:29 p.m., law enforcement reported a tornado damaging 145th Street off Interstate 530 near Wrightsville in Pulaski County. There were reports of trees and power lines down.
A few minutes later at 8:48 p.m. tornado damage reports came from the East End community in Saline County. The East End Fire Department sustained major damage and several people were trapped in their homes.
At the same time there was a reported tornado near College Station in Pulaski County. Trees and power lines were down at exit five off Interstate 440.
Less than an hour after East End took a hit at 8:50 p.m. there was another tornado report. This time the report included a major gas leak in the Fairview neighborhood of East End in Saline County.
At 8:52 p.m. the Arkansas State Police reported a tornado on the ground on Interstate 440 south of Galloway in Pulaski County.
At 8:54 p.m. the Arkansas State police reported Interstate 40 was blocked because of tornado debris near the Pulaski/Lonoke County line, just east of Galloway.
At 9:01 p.m. the South Bend Fire Department reported a tornado on the ground from south of Highway 294 traveling to the northeast. Officials said the damage path was four miles long and a quarter of a mile wide. Several stand alone homes and trailers were reported as destroyed in the area of Robin Road, Redbird Lane and Graham Road, all near South Bend in Lonoke County.
By 9:27 p.m. there were reports of homes damaged by a tornado in the town of Fox in Stone County.
At 10:38 p.m. Hot Springs Village was in the path of a storm that was capable of producing tornadoes. We were warned to take precautions.
At 10:46 p.m a storm spotter reported damage in Schoffner, one mile north of Weldon in Jackson County. He said there were trees and power lines down.
By the time the event wound down last night, there were reports of three dead in Van Buren County. Ten fire agencies were still doing search and rescue operations in the East End community.
There were several power outages reported throughout the evening.
The Little Rock Airport was forced to shut down most of Friday evening as a possible tornado neared the area.
Unfortunately, today may bring more of the same kind of weather throughout Arkansas.