Storm Chaser reports the Atkins, Arkansas Tornado
BackBrief Summary: At 4:30pm I reached Atkins, AR ahead of a fast moving supercell that was making a beeline for the town. Unfortunately, this part of Arkansas is heavily wooded. I had planned on chasing E AR but that didn't pan out. It took me a good 20 minutes to scout a location with good road (escape) options and view to the southwest. I found this location on the southwest side of town as the updraft base was coming into view. The base was fairly small and with rapid rotation. I was confident that it was producing a tornado without having a view of the surface. At 5:00pm, I got a clear view of the tornado as it grew form an elephant trunk within a translucent bowl of rain, into a wide stovepipe. The core overtook me at 5:02 and I never saw it again. Moments later I came across the damage 1-mile east of Atkins. The damage track appeared to be about ΒΌ-mile wide. Two homes on the periphery of the tornado appeared to have EF-0 to EF-1 type damage. The home in the middle of the path was completely removed from its foundation and disintegrated. It appeared to be built on a stacked cinderblock foundation. Two of the neighbors from surrounding homes were at this house looking for survivors. I asked if everyone was okay and they said they were fine. Although, they didn't know if anyone was at the home that was leveled. About an hour later I came back through the same area and there was a bad car accident at the start of the damage path. A car had collided with another vehicle that had stopped where a power pole was across the road. Judging from the damage the car must have been going at least 50mph and I wouldn't be surprised if fatalities resulted from this accident. The accident likely occurred when visibility was reduced by a line of storms moved through after the initial supercell.
Category: News
Uploaded: February 7th, 2008 @ 2:15 am
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