Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Storms cause death, damage
One man killed near Rogers; Benton County sees tornado
BENTONVILLE — A Benton County man died early Monday when a tree fell on his home during strong storms that officials said produced a tornado in the western part of the county.
County Coroner Daniel Oxford said his office was called to the residence on Pleasant Ridge Road east of the Rogers city limits at 1:01 a.m. Monday. Oxford said a large oak tree fell on the home, and the ceiling collapsed. Oxford said the man was found beside a couch in what appeared to be the living room.
Authorities said severe thunderstorms were responsible for the deaths of at least three people west of Fort Smith in Oklahoma. In northeastern Arkansas, an EF-1 tornado injured at least five people in Tyronza.
Benton County Judge Barry Moehring signed an emergency declaration Monday, citing the severity and broad damage from the storm.
“Given the property damage I’ve seen from touring the impacted areas, I believe a declaration is appropriate,” Moehring said. “If the monetary damages of the storm are significant enough, then we’ll be able to receive additional assistance for repairs.”
Moehring’s declaration allows Benton County and affected cities to request assistance from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for uninsured public sector damages attributed to the storm to repair structures to pre-disaster conditions.
The National Weather Service confirmed the damage was attributed to at least one tornado and straightline winds, said Robert McGowen, the county’s public safety administrator.
Moehring and McGowen spoke Monday at an afternoon press conference.
Moehring said nearly 80 roads were closed in unincorporated Benton County
and dozens more in various cities. McGowen said 16 roads remained closed because they were waiting on the power company to remove fallen lines.
He added representatives with the National Weather Service were surveying the damage in Benton County. The weather service said an EF-1 tornado touched down near U.S. 412 between Arkansas 59 and Arkansas 16 near Siloam Springs.
“They are in initial stages of tracking it,” he said.
Two commercial sites, a strip mall at Eighth Street and New Hope and O’Reilly Auto Parts on Eighth Street in Rogers, were damaged during the storm, Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said.
Jenkins said Rogers firefighters had more than 100 weather-related calls from the storm including reports of natural gas leaks, downed power lines and trees.
Storms caused significant roof damage at Rogers High School, said Charles Lee, assistant superintendent for general administration. Part of the roof on the campus’s main building off of Dixieland Road peeled off, and rain caused water damage in some of the classrooms, he said.
Storms also caused roof damage at the indoor field house, knocked over a flag pole at the football stadium and blew portable bleachers onto the football field, Lee said.
Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. reported Monday evening at least 130 power poles were broken and more were expected to be found in Benton and Carroll counties.
“This significant storm event will take multiple days to recover from,” according to a statement on the company’s website. About 9,500 customers were without power Monday evening.
Swepco reported about 4,000 customers in the Rogers area were without power Monday evening.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport was without electrical power Monday morning, according to Kelly Johnson, chief operating officer. Backup generators were used at the terminal.
“We’re limping along,” Johnson said Monday morning. Airlines were processing boarding passes manually.
Downed trees and power lines blocked Arkansas 264 most of the day, which closed the south entrance to the airport. A hangar had some roof damage and several signs and trees were down or damaged, Johnson said.
The National Weather Service said preliminary information shows an EF-1 tornado hit Sunday night in Tyronza in the northeast corner of Arkansas. Jonesboro TV station KAIT reported five people were injured. The weather service did not have an estimate yet of the wind speed.
Two people were injured when a service station was nearly “leveled” by storms shortly before 6 a.m., Poinsett County Sheriff Kevin Molder said.
The East Poinsett County School District canceled classes after a school building was “heavily damaged,” according to Molder. Several trees had fallen on houses and power lines were down. Officials were assessing the extent of the damage Monday.
“Other than that, we’re here,” said Donna Wood, Tyronza city clerk.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Brooke Arbeitman said two teenage boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning late Sunday in Weleetka, about 100 miles west of Fort Smith. She said the 14- and 15-year-old boys were using a portable gas generator in a travel trailer after the storms knocked out power. The father of the younger boy discovered their bodies Monday morning.
Another person died late Sunday night when a tree blew onto a mobile home near Valliant, in the southeast corner of Oklahoma.
A weather service report said at least two small tornadoes with winds of about 85 mph toppled trees and power lines near Springfield, Mo. Homes and outbuildings were damaged in scattered areas across parts of southwestern Missouri from Joplin to Branson. No injuries or fatalities were reported.