In the News - February 2012
Picking up the pieces after seven tornadoes
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Fast Facts
- NWS report shows seven twisters hit state on Jan. 22
- Triumph over Tragedy program can help communities anticipate long-term recovery
LITTLE ROCK – Two weeks after a line of storms produced seven tornadoes that roared across state causing damage in seven counties, Arkansans are walking through in the long, slow recovery phase.
“The good news is that despite there being seven tornadoes in one day, it’s almost miraculous that there were no deaths,” said Deborah Tootle, associate professor-Community and Economic Development for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “But now the hard work begins – rebuilding homes and infrastructure.”
"For the next few months to a year, people will be picking up the pieces and putting them back together again,” she said. “At some point, it will seem like things are getting worse as people deal with the realities of rebuilding homes and lives. Eventually, they will get their lives and community reassembled, but they will look and act a little differently.”
Knowing what the challenges are for long-term recovery is the value of the “Triumph over Tragedy” program. The program helps communities understand the phases of recovery and how groups respond and act in the weeks and months after a disaster. For information about Triumph over Tragedy, contact your county extension office.
Aside from the physical damage, there is also emotional trauma.
"Tornadoes are horrifically stressful events, even if they don't hit your home or property,” she said. “Nearly everyone has some kind of emotional response to tornadoes, although these responses can range from mildly disturbing to extreme visceral and debilitating stress.”
Tootle said it’s normal for people to feel confused, vulnerable or fearful, or to have trouble sleeping and enjoying normal routines. Occasionally people become angry, and blame others for their misfortune.
“In most cases, as time goes by, and structural damages and social networks are repaired, most people recover," she said.
According to the National Weather Service at Little Rock, the seven twisters hit the state between 7:14 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. on Jan, 22. They were:
- 7:14 p.m. – An EF2 that caused damage around Fordyce and destroyed a 160-year-old church at Kingsland. The twister affected Calhoun, Dallas and Cleveland counties in its 19.2-mile path.
- 7:28 p.m. – An EF1 funnel with a path of three-quarters of a mile beginning and ending within 2.5 miles of Coy in Lonoke County. The storm flipped an irrigation pivot into a ditch.
- 8:06 p.m. – Another EF1 tornado that began and ended within 3 miles of the Moscow community in Jefferson County ripped apart an irrigation pivot and threw an empty 12,000-gallon fuel tank into a field.
- 8:15 p.m. – An EF1 tornado that ran 16.9 miles from the Sweden community in Jefferson County and also affected Arkansas County. This storm damaged two mobile homes, destroyed grain bins and overturned farm machinery.
- 8:36 p.m. – An EF2 tornado that blew down four steel transmission towers, knocked over a travel trailer and blew the elevator off a grain bin in its 14.4-mile path through Arkansas County.
- 8:51 p.m. – An EF1 twister that destroyed a mobile home and damaged homes, sheds and vehicles in a 9.4-mile path that started about 8 miles south of DeWitt and ended about 3 miles southeast of DeWitt.
- 8:59 p.m. – This EF1 touched down four miles south of Ragtown in Monroe County, flipped an irrigation pivot and threw a storage shed over a farm building. This storm’s 5.8-mile path put it into Phillips County.
The EF numbers stand for Enhanced Fujita Scale. Storms are rated by the damage caused. An EF1 tornado would have winds between 86 and 110 miles per hour. An EF2 has winds of 111-135 miles per hour.
For more information on disaster recovery, contact your county extension office or visit www.uaex.edu.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
February 1, 2012
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
mhightower@uaex.edu
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