A tornado ripped through Conway County Friday morning, claiming the lives of a father and his son and injuring six other residents before continuing its 45- mile path of death and destruction.
The tornado was one of at least three that struck in central Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. The severe weather claimed seven lives in the state.
The longest track of destruction recorded was by the tornado that developed just east of Birdtown about 8:15 a.m. and traveled 45 miles into Cleburne County less than five miles northwest of Drasco.
The storm was classified as an Enhanced Fujita Scale (EFS) 3 with winds of 136 to 165 miles per hour. State Rep. Johnny Hoyt got a bird’s eye view of the damage Friday afternoon courtesy of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department helicopter. “It appeared to just drop down near some mobile homes on M&M Road,” Hoyt said. He described a path of destruction that ranged from 200 to 250 yards wide.
The severe weather was being reported byseveral news media. Morrilton’s KVOM was monitoring the radar on computer and issued a tornado warning when the radar indicated a hook echo as the storm cloud moved north of Blackwell toward Solgohachia. The funnel apparently did not touch down until it passed over Birdtown.
M&M Road, located about two miles south of Center Ridge and two miles north of Birdtown, was hardest hit. Dan McNair was at home with his sons, Michael McNair and Austin Reid, age 17, when their doublewide was picked up by the storm and scattered over a wide area of pasture.
Conway County Sheriff Mike Smith said, “When we first found the bodies of Dan, age 52, and Michael, age 15, we did not know if they were occupants of the mobile home or a house that was located near the mobile home. Both structures were completely blown away.” Smith added, “It appears the doublewide was picked up by the storm then slammed back onto the ground before it was picked up a second time and slammed onto the ground. The twisted mobile home frame — all that was left — was found in two parts about 100 or more yards from the mobile home’s foundation. The McNairs were pronounced dead at the scene. McNair’s second son, Austin Reid, survived and was taken to University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock. Both sons are students at Nemo Vista School.
Conway County Emergency Services Director Brandon Baker activated the county’s command post within minutes of the storm. The sheriff’s department began an immediate house-to-house search for victims. The county’s fire departments were activated and provided assistance searching for victims and clearing roadways of fallen trees and debris. The Morrilton Fire Department rescue team also assisted. Baker said 15 structures were destroyed and another 40 structures damaged.
Brittany Flowers of Atkins said her mother was at home alone when the storm hit. She took cover inside a closet as the tornado took the roof off the structure. “She escaped with a bump on the head, but would not go to the doctor,” Flowers said.
Charlene Meaders said she was at home alone when her son, who lives next door, came running in and said, “We’ve got to get into the storm cellar; a tornado is coming.” The tornado hit as soon as they got into the cellar. Meaders said she slipped and fell into the 8-by-8 cellar. “We held on to each other, cried and prayed,” she said. When they stepped out of the cellar and Meaders saw her house was destroyed, she fell to her knees and cried.
She said it was hard to accept the fact that everything she had worked for, for 50 years, could be gone in just a moment. “I’m afraid I don’t have enough insurance to rebuild,” she said. “We do have our lives,” she added. A second storm warning was issued for the area and Meaders said her 8-by-8 storm cellar had 16 adults in it. “It didn’t bother the men to come into the cellar after the tornado hit,” she said. Kelly Flowers was on the phone with her grandmother when the storm hit. “I was trying to put my shoes on when the wind started blowing,” she said. She had only enough time to grab her 2-year-old son when the mobile home disintegrated around her. “We got on the floor and hoped for the best,” she said. An entertainment center fell on top of them and served as a cover. “I didn’t think I was going to come out of it,” she said of the less-than-one-minute ordeal. She said a man came and helped her from the debris and took them to the hospital to be checked. “I called my husband and told him we don’t have a house anymore,” she said. Her husband, who recently retired from the military, was working at the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Morrilton. Flowers said her other two kids were at school at Nemo Vista.
Warning sirens went off in Morrilton as well and students at the Morrilton schools were sent to preassigned areas on the campus. Students at Nemo Vista were given a tornado alert and took cover for several minutes at preassigned areas.
One mobile home was turned upside down and landed on top of a pickup truck. No one was at home. The owner said the next project for his family would be the construction of a storm cellar.
Friday afternoon the area was filled with emergency personnel and friends of the storm victims. Many were trying to salvage items scattered in yards and pastures. Damaged structures included some chicken houses. Producers were loading the poultry that survived into trucks.