In the News - February 2008
Arkansans picking up after deadly tornadoes
UNDATED - "It’s just all gone."
That’s what Shawn Burgess, Stone County agent for the University of Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service, saw at one stop as he drove the county roads to
check on his clients, dodging downed power lines and trees.
"I went to one family this morning. They lost their house and their rent
house. The roof is blown off the house they live in," he said. "They lost four
barns and can’t find any of their stock trailers."
Tuesday night, a line of storms spawned tornadoes that killed 13 people in
Arkansas. Van Buren, Pope, Sharp, Izard and Conway counties were all hard hit.
In Izard County, extension agent Carroll Prewett was standing amid the
remains of the cattle operation of one of his clients near Melbourne. Wind noise
drowned his voice from time to time on a cell call.
"One of my farmers, it blew his barn away," Prewett said. "There are dead
cattle everywhere. He has 1,300 stockers here - maybe 200 dead. The fence is
down.
"I just left my office to come out here and see what I could do to help,"
Prewett said.
He said the power was out and trees were down at the county. The phones at
his office were out of order.
In Pope County, Phil Sims, the county extension agent, said damage was
severe, mainly in and around Atkins.
"The schools were not hit and are in session today," he said. "I thought that
was a positive thing to do to normalize the routine for our kids."
He said Entergy personnel were coming from Oklahoma to handle downed, but
live wires. "They still have power in them, and clean up can’t occur until power
is turned off."
Sims said he was trying to check with farmers in the area affected by the
tornado, but cell phone coverage is erratic. He said the main area hit was more
row crop production than beef cattle production.
Sims said extension will help in the relief efforts.
"We’ll encourage 4-H youth to offer to help people in need," he said.
After the Appleton-Jerusalem tornado a few weeks ago, 4-H’ers helped elderly
and fixed-income residents who couldn’t afford to hire someone to pickup debris
out of their yards and fields. After that tornado, he said 4-H’ers picked up
stones and other debris deposited in cattle pastures.
Sims cautioned residents about food safety after a tornado.
"It doesn’t take long for food to go bad when there’s no power," he said. The
extension service will provide advice to people in the affected area about food
safety issues.
The tornado hit home personally for Sims, who said he knew three of the four
fatalities reported in his county. During a county fair meeting Tuesday night,
members talked about those fatalities, "and we all said a prayer for the
victims."
"It’s been a pretty hairy winter," Sims said.
Sharp County Extension Administrative Office Supervisor Linda Tanner said her
office escaped damage, but "most of the Highland business area is destroyed."
"The old Ford dealership is gone. There was a barber and beauty shop,
restaurant, all kinds of things" were destroyed, she said. "There are homes
destroyed and lots of timber."
Joe Moore, the staff chair, had to stay home Wednesday to clear downed trees
blocking the road to his house.
In Van Buren County, residents spent the morning trying to see what was left.
Van Buren County Extension Agent Danny Griffin was driving from his home near
Shirley to his office in Clinton.
"I don’t know if I’ve got an office yet," he said by cell phone from his
vehicle.
His home and family escaped the worst of the tornado, but "I watched it go
through."
Conway County Extension Agent Tommy Thompson was driving the back roads
trying to get into devastated areas to check on farmers. His wife was
documenting producer losses with a digital camera.
"The feed mill between here and Atkins was destroyed, and we have tons of
chickens that have to have food," he said. "There’s going to be barns blown down
and hay bales blown away and cattle are going to have to be fed."
Tuesday night’s tornado damage was more widespread than the Jan. 7-8 twister
that hit Appleton and Jerusalem, killing one person. He said the tornado Tuesday
night hit three communities, killing two people. The twister stayed on the
ground a long time.
Thompson said the county judge and USDA personnel held an emergency meeting
and committee members divided up efforts to check on the county’s structures,
infrastructure and livestock.
Another meeting has been scheduled in which the members will present reports
and photos to aid the judge in requesting emergency money from the governor.
February 6, 2008
Media Contact: Mary Hightower and Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialists
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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