At least six people were injured after a tornado ripped through downtown Jonesboro, Arkansas on Saturday, ripping entire walls off buildings, flattening homes, and leaving cars overturned. GAIL MARIE MOORE, 21. more than 3 years ago. Craighead County was under a tornado warning with there was a report of a tornado on the ground Thursday night near the Refuge Baptist Church in the western end of Lake City, Arkansas, 15 miles east of Jonesboro. By Ralph Ellis, Judson Jones and Gene Norman, CNN. The tornado developed quickly in Arkansas and looks to have caused considerable damage It was the longest night of my life, and seeing the remains of the high school in the strobe-like lightning flashes after the tornado passed was a heartbreaking sight. Tornado warnings were issued just after 8 p.m. Wednesday night for these areas as the storm moved through. First of all, it came in the middle of the night, so there was no visible evidence of its impending arrival. Not even an hour ago, weather reports lit up when the tornado touched down and gained strength rolling through the northeastern Arkansas town. One family rushed to get all their children to safety in a central hallway of their home. A second tornado occurred in … The remains of a vehicle lie in a parking lot in front of a damaged Ashley HomeStore after a tornado stuck Saturday in Jonesboro, Ark. Often wondered if it was a type of survival humor on the part of the school system to use that name. Hurricane?? "The miracle of the 1973 storm was that only three persons lost their lives," wrote Mike Overall, city editor of The Jonesboro Sun. A violent tornado ripped through the middle of Jonesboro around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening. Tornado caught on camera tearing through Jonesboro, Officials: Pregnant woman among 5 killed in 'mass murder', Dr. Birx: Trump presented graphs that I never made, Biden's HHS secretary pick: If we do this, we will get the pandemic under control, Rioter charged with threatening to 'assassinate' Ocasio-Cortez, officer, 'What research did you do? The last tornado that did extensive damage in Jonesboro occurred in the early 1970s, when a twister struck a school in the city, Campbell said. The bad news is that almost 300 citizens were seriously injured, many homes were completely gone, if not wrecked beyond repair, and city officials later calculated the tornado had inflicted more than $60 million damage on their town. An official tornado warning for Jonesboro was finally issued for 12:55 a.m. — almost a quarter-hour after the twister touched down! Others were driving through the black night when they felt their vehicles swerve with the merciless rush of wind. I was pregnant with my son at that time, and had a 2 1/2 year old daughter. Today, very little remains of the 40-year-old disaster, and Jonesboro quickly rebuilt. Linda Ellison Arkansas averages 26 tornados per year, resulting in an average of 6 fatalities. The search and rescue efforts were completed by Sunday morning, and responders are moving into the cleanup and recovery phases, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day said. As everyone focuses their attention on the devastating storm that swept across the Oklahoma City suburbs a few days ago, let's pause for a moment to recognize that this Memorial Day weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Jonesboro Tornado, one of the worst storms in the history of Arkansas. Just a half-hour after midnight on May 27, 1973, a series of three massive twisters — the largest with a funnel cloud almost a mile wide — swept completely across the southern portion of this city, just about an hour northwest of Memphis. Alice Lynch (Quentin Winstine/Jonesboro … As a result of what the newspaper called "the storm's insane fury," Jonesboro High School  was bulldozed and replaced with more modern, storm-resistant buildings. All rights reserved. Day said there is a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott urged residents to stay home while debris is cleared out of roadways and other common areas. According to records, the largest tornado in the Jonesboro area was an F4 in 1973 that caused 289 injuries and 3 deaths. … Just arrived on Caraway. When it was finally over, the good news was that only three people were dead. The Salvation Army of Jonesboro was the recipient of a $2,000 Good Neighbor Grant from State Farm for COVID-19 support and an additional $3,000 grant for tornado recovery. Between March and April, Arkansas saw nine news-worthy tornado touch downs. The National Weather Service shared a video of the storm. Photos and … JONESBORO, Ark. more than 4 years ago, Jonesboro mascot was always the hurricanes ... had nothing to do with the tornado, Donna holladay ': Brown presses GOP lawmaker on election fraud claims, Birx says she 'always' considered quitting Trump's Covid-19 task force, Chuck Schumer announces timeline for Trump impeachment, 'We're left high and dry': Vulnerable seniors struggle to get vaccine, Race to vaccinate before more contagious Covid-19 strains spread, Biden zeroes in on the teetering economy in first week, Images show huge trench being dug by Russian-backed mercenaries, Former follower details the real danger of QAnon, Portland protesters explain why they are taking to the streets, Hank Aaron, baseball legend and former home run king, dies at 86, Ex-Trump official who supports Biden stimulus plan speaks out. — People in Jonesboro are trying to salvage what they can after an EF-3 tornado brought 140 mile per hour winds to northeast Arkansas on … A large tornado touched down in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on March 28, 2020, at around 5 p.m. local time. CHERYL LYNN MOORE, 6 months. David Kimmel Sr. A massive tornado struck the city of Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Saturday ar around 5 p.m local time, which left a devasting path of damage in its wake. That was measured in 1973 dollars, too. Mayor Harold Perrin and other local officials said there were no deaths after the tornado touched down on Saturday in the city, about 130 miles northeast of Little Rock. 5:20 PM-Here is a look at the tornado that intensified and moved through Jonesboro, AR this evening around 5 PM. Tornado Information for Arkansas. Here's how local reporters described it: "Descriptions of sheer terror abounded throughout Jonesboro when survivors began coming out of their homes after the storm's fury had abated. But we were safe. My husband had to stop his car and walk in knee water to reach us at home with electric wires popping in the water that had been blown down from the storm. We ended up going back to sleep and the next morning when we started to head out of town we drove around a bit and I think it was over by the University that I saw the strangest site. Copyright © 2020 Memphis Magazine. Other tornadoes struck Saturday, according to the weather service. Don Blanchard KATV Tornado touches down in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I lived there through that tornado. Lizabeth Lottmann "If the storm had struck just a few hours earlier, it would have caught hundreds of shoppers in the Carraway Road area, which was pounded with savage fury. It's called Hurricane Drive because the school teams are called the Hurricanes. Tornado's do some strange things. In Jonesboro, Arkansas, a violent tornado did damage in the town with six reported injuries. In total there have been at least 190 reports of severe weather in the last … PAULINE SYKES, 3. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Jonesboro, AR is a High Risk area for tornados. There were miracles among the tragedies. Jonesboro last saw tornadoes in 1968 and 1973, Rick Elliott, Jonesboro’s Chief of Police said. Jonesboro, Ark. The states most at risk were Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. You can imagine the horror as the family pulled itself from the rubble and began a frantic search for their child. A tornado ripped through Jonesboro, Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. more than 2 years ago. Storm damage in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Saturday. Within a few minutes, the damage was done, with the powerful winds erasing entire neighborhoods. I remember being woke up after the tornado had already gone thru. When he investigated, he found the smashed remains of a baby crib lying on the banks — with the little boy still sleeping inside it, unharmed except for a tiny cut on his hand. Within seconds, the baby's room was simply ... gone. Arkansas wasn't as damaged as some of the other states but the impact was still devastating. The last tornado that did damage like this to the city happened in the early 1970s, when it hit a school in Jonesboro, Campbell said. A tornado struck Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Saturday afternoon, flattening buildings and overturning vehicles, CNN affiliate KAIT reported. Most people only knew of the tornado when it landed on top of them. "We've already asked you to stay at home for this virus but we're really stressing to stay at home," Elliott said. Joyce Glenn Preliminary results from yesterday's tornadoes: The survey team has rated the Jonesboro tornado as an EF-3 with max winds of 140 mph. Just a half-hour after midnight on May 27, 1973, a series of three massive twisters — the largest with a funnel cloud almost a mile wide — swept completely across the southern portion of this city, just about an hour northwest of Memphis. 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