Log in to your IBTimes Account

close
ID
Password
  • Set your IBTimes.com Edition

Survivors search for belongings amid Ark. tornado wreckage



By JON GAMBRELL, AP
03 May 2008 @ 04:29 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Ark. - Smoke rose from burning heaps of wreckage Saturday as residents of rural Arkansas cleaned up what was left of their homes after deadly tornadoes scoured a state that has been plagued by severe weather this year.


Severe Weather
People look through tornado debris, Friday, May 2, 2008 in Center Ridge, Ark. A powerful storm system packing tornadoes and heavy winds roared across the nation's midsection early Friday, killing at least seven people in Arkansas including a teenager crushed by a tree while she slept. (AP Photo/Mike Wintroath)
1 of 3

Related Topic

Get stories by e-mail on this topic.

E-mail:

All that remained of Shelia Massey's home were a chimney, a bathroom wall, and a bathtub that was her storm shelter.

"God's hand was down and held us there while the rest of the house just blew away," said Massey, 54. "That's all there was to it. The Lord held us there."

A child poking through the rubble found a photograph of Massey's husband, who was not at home when the violent weather struck Friday. The storms killed seven people, damaged or destroyed about 400 homes, and knocked out electrical and telephone service for thousands of customers in 18 counties.

Altogether, meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across middle America late Thursday and early Friday, but Arkansas was the hardest hit.

Down U.S. 65 from Massey's house, parishioners at Southside Baptist Church salvaged what was left of their old sanctuary and their recently completed new church.

Men backed up pickup trucks to the front door of the old church and loaded up boxes filled with red-leather hymnals. The storm had collapsed the roof of the their new sanctuary, bending its steel beams like sipping straws.

Public officials offered comfort and support. U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., and a staff member shook hands with volunteers cleaning the church, and Gov. Mike Huckabee scheduled a tour of the damaged area.

National Weather Service teams were sent out to survey damage for their count of the tornadoes, and state emergency management workers helped county officials with damage assessments. Arkansas National Guard members were on hand to provide security.

Elsewhere Saturday, the National Weather Service posted tornado watches during the morning for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as an arc of strong thunderstorms rolled across the region.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Click!
  • Rate this article:

Comments

Post Your Comment

*Name


advertisement
More Politics & Policy
Software, biotech firms and others who develop new ways to do business will be watching closely on Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case that cou...
U.S. President Barack Obama urged Americans on Friday not to jump to conclusions on the motive behind the mass shooting at the sprawling Fort Hood army b...
The Obama administration would be willing to hold bilateral talks with North Korea but only if certain conditions were met, the president's top adviser o...

advertisement
Advertisement
POS Magnetic Card Readers

Online distributor for point of sale equipment, TYSSO and Pegasus.

 
IBTimes.com Web
Partners
International Business Times© 2009 The Ibtimes Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms of service | Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us | Contact Us | Archives