In the News - January 2012
NWS rates Fordyce-area twister at EF2
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Fast Facts
- Fordyce tornado an EF2, says NWS
- Gresham: Be cautious about power lines during cleanup
- Contact county extension office about long-term disaster recovery information
FORDYCE, Ark. – The tornado that hit the Fordyce area Sunday was an EF2, the National Weather Service said Monday.
There are six categories on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates storm strength based on the damage caused. In a storm rated at EF zero, winds range from 65-85 mph. At the highest end, EF5, storms have winds of greater than 200 mph. EF2 storms pack winds of 111-135 mph. (Read more about the Enhanced Fujita scale at www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/ef-scale.html)
The tornado was produced in a strong line of storms that swept across Arkansas generating hail up to the size of softballs and damaging straight-line winds. During the Sunday evening storms, the National Weather Service received reports of tornadoes near Lodge Corner in Arkansas County, near Coy in Lonoke County and storm chasers reported a tornado on the ground four miles northwest of DeWitt and about one mile west of Burk in Arkansas County.
“Among some of the highest-rated damage was some significant damage to houses northwest of Fordyce, the country club and a set of transmission towers,” the National Weather Service said.
Keith Gresham, Dallas County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture said on Monday that property owners need to proceed carefully as they assess damage and begin cleaning up.
“Don’t touch the wires,” he said. “Having been on the fire department for 25 years, that’s something we can’t stress enough – to make sure those wires are off before trying to approach the site.”
Gresham visited with county residents Monday morning, and heard about how “the tornado skirted along the edges of the town,” he said. “I’d heard of damage to houses, carports and rooftops. The pool house at the country club was in the pool.”
Gresham was expecting to make rounds in the county again late Monday morning to visit clients and assess the scope of the damage.
“We want people to know that the Cooperative Extension Service can help in the longer term recovery after the immediate situation is stable,” he said. “We have materials that can help people cope with the stress of a disaster and also a program that can help whole communities recover over the long term.”
Meanwhile, Arkansas winter wheat growers are being advised to give their fields a once-over Monday in the wake of storms that pummeled the state with enormous hail.
“The wheat crop is small and very unlikely that wind caused any damage,” said Keith Perkins, Lonoke County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “A hail storm could cause damage by reducing stand. However, each field would need to be evaluated on a field-by-field basis.”
Neighboring Prairie County received .75 to 1.25 inches of rain, and that brought a halt to work some farmers were doing to get fields ready for spring planting. Some of that work had been on hold in the last month because of a series of heavy rainstorms.
“Farmers were able to get in the field on ground not yet worked,” said Prairie County Extension Staff Chair Brent Griffin. “Many were trying to move dirt –to level the land, and that does not get done unless they lay fields out.”
According to the National Weather Service, a trailer house was destroyed in DeWitt and a shed and duck blind were demolished near Almyra. Hail an inch or larger was reported in Pulaski, Lonoke, Hot Spring, Independence, Grant, Jackson, Cleveland, Jefferson, and Monroe counties. Wind and hail damage from thunderstorms was reported near Chidester in Ouachita County, and Grant County.
For more information on recovering from disasters 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.
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| RED BOXES -- The red boxes show some of the many tornado warnings from Sunday night's storms. This screen shot of the National Weather Service radar centered at Little Rock was taken around 8:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22. (Image courtesy National Weather Service) |
January 23, 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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