Less than a week after parts of central Arkansas were devastated by a tornado outbreak, more severe weather could be on the way.
An EF-3 tornado last Friday tore through a roughly 30 mile stretch of central Arkansas, causing damage and one death in North Little Rock. Later Friday, four people were killed in the Cross County town of Wynne when a tornado touched down there.
Now, forecasters say heavy rain is possible for much of the state Tuesday evening, as well as high winds, large hail and an increased risk of more tornadoes. Meteorologist Travis Shelton with the National Weather Service says the greatest risk for severe weather will come later Tuesday.
It’ll get started late afternoon to early evening, but the stronger storms, looks like they’re going to kick off anywhere between 6 and 9, looks like a window for more discrete cells,” Shelton said. “Along the line that moves across ahead of the cold front in the overnight hours, those look like there’s some potential for severe storms as well.”
A stretch of western and northern Arkansas could see a moderate risk of tornado potential Tuesday evening into Wednesday, including Russellville, Hot Springs, Fort Smith and Mountain Home. Shelton says a number of severe weather threats are possible.
“We do have some sever potential again, the potential for up to golf ball-sized hail, damaging winds, 60 to 80 mile-per-hour winds, and a lower tornado potential but there is an additional tornado potential as well,” he said.
Much of central Arkansas, including Little Rock, will be at an enhanced risk for tornado activity. Shelton says heavy rainfall is possible Tuesday and Wednesday, with higher amounts in the far southern parts of the state. The Little Rock area could see an inch to an inch-and-a-half of rain through the end of the work week.
Members of the Little Rock City Board of Directors heard an update Monday on cleanup efforts from last week’s tornado outbreak. As of Monday, about 30 people were hospitalized with injuries resulting from the tornado which hit Little Rock Friday afternoon.
The city’s Emergency Management Administrator Matt Burks says, of the roughly 30-mile overall path of the tornado, six miles were in Little Rock.
“Along that six-mile path, we had 2,983 structures impacted, the majority of those residential but there are a lot of commercial businesses that have been impacted greatly as well,” Burks said.
Burks says about 5,200 Little Rock residents remained without power as of Monday morning, with most expecting to have power restored by Wednesday. Little Rock Police Chief Health Helton commended other law enforcement agencies for helping with recovery efforts.
“We were getting calls from all around the state… it’s really nice to know that, even though our resources were stretched thin and other places were as well, they were willing to send bodies for us to assist,” Helton said.
Helton says only one potential looting-related call was fielded by police in Little Rock. He says his department was able to get a handle on the situation about nine hours after the tornado first struck on Friday.
City officials say, so far, 600 people have signed up to volunteer for cleanup efforts through an online portal. Officials with the city’s public works department say they are planning to open the bidding process to contract with companies to help remove debris. A temporary debris collection site is set to open at Little Rock’s Reservoir Park Tuesday morning.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a pair of executive orders in the wake of the devastating tornado outbreak last week. One provides paid leave for state employees who were directly affected by the storm. The other pushes back the state income tax filing deadline to July 31 for affected individuals.
The governor made the announcement in a news conference alongside Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton Monday. Sanders says the state also has a new centralized website for disaster assistance.
