2 tornadoes confirmed near Garfield
Mayor confirms trees blown down and homes damaged, but no one injured
GARFIELD — The National Weather Service has confirmed storms early Tuesday resulted in two tornadoes in the Garfield area.
Garfield Mayor Gary Blackburn said the storm downed trees “all over town” and damaged a number of homes, including two residences on Alvin Seamster Road that lost their roofs. He said no injuries were reported.
“It came through the Pea Ridge (National Military) Park,” Blackburn said. “We border the park on the west side of town. It was pretty much in a straight line from there. It took the roofs off two houses then jumped over to the Ashmore subdivision.”
Blackburn said there were mature trees blown down, including 15 trees at one residence. He said the city has cleared the roadways with some assistance from the Benton County Road Department in areas near the city and will be doing tree removal work “for the next couple of months.”
Travis Cott, administrative officer at the national park, said there were trees blown down in some areas but no damage to the park’s buildings or to its split rail fences and other exhibits.
He said one trail, the Williams Hollow Loop, was closed while staff walked it to check for downed trees or other damage.
“The path of the tornado went through that trail area,” Cott said.
Lt. John Langham with the Pea Ridge Police Department said there were some trees blown down, but most of the reports of storm damage were about tree limbs and items that were outdoors but not secured such as trash cans and trampolines that were blown around. Langham said there were no injuries reported to the Police Department.
The first tornado developed around 12:33 a.m. Tuesday over the northeastern side of the national park, northwest of Elkhorn Tavern, according to preliminary data provided by the weather service’s Tulsa office. It moved east-northeast for 2.8 miles, uprooting several trees along North Old Wire Road and Limekiln Road. It dissipated east of Limekiln Road.
The weather service reported the second tornado developed at 12:35 a.m. It touched down north of U.S. 62 over the far southeastern portion of the national park and moved east for 2.4 miles, damaging the roofs of two homes, destroying an outbuilding and uprooting trees on Alvin Seamster Road. Tree damage was noted as far east as Pinebrooke Road, and the tornado dissipated before reaching U.S. 62.
Both tornadoes were rated as EF1, with estimated peak winds of 90 to 100 mph, according to the weather service.
The storms also resulted in wind damage across much of Pea Ridge, with trees uprooted or snapped in places from the west side of town toward the west side of the national park.
In addition, the storms late Monday and early Tuesday produced five EF1 tornadoes in eastern Oklahoma, according to the weather service.
Garfield Mayor Gary Blackburn said the storm downed trees “all over town” and damaged a number of homes, including two residences on Alvin Seamster Road that lost their roofs. He said no injuries were reported.