During the course of this week, the southwestern region of Arkansas was subjected to a double whammy of severe weather, as two tornadoes made landfall. These tornadoes left a trail of destruction, but happily, there were no reports of injuries.
A tornado with an EF-2 rating tore across communities close to Hope, Arkansas, on the morning of April 5, making it the more powerful of the two storms that struck. The tornado, which had winds of up to 115 miles per hour, remained on the ground for about 15 minutes, carving out a path that was 10.6 miles long and stretched up to 500 yards broad for itself. As reported by the National Weather Service (NWS), the tornado inflicted damage that was evident between the hours of 9:36 AM and 9:50 AM Central Daylight Time.
Just the night before, on April 4, a second tornado, this one classified EF-1, devastated areas close to the border between Hempstead County and Nevada County. It left its mark despite being smaller and lasting for a shorter period of time, with peak winds of 105 miles per hour. In a span of about three minutes (from 8:29 PM to 8:32 PM Central Daylight Time), the tornado covered a distance of 2.8 miles and reached a width of 375 yards.
After conducting in-depth damage assessments, the National Weather Service office in Shreveport, Louisiana, confirmed the existence of both tornadoes. The fact that there were no reports of injuries despite the severity of the storms is something that the authorities in the area are describing as a godsend.
At the same time that authorities are working to thoroughly analyze the extent of the damage throughout both locations, cleanup efforts are now underway.
