Written by Kylie Akins
A powerful weather system spawned more than 240 tornadoes across 13 states as it traversed the U.S. April 14-16, according to a NASA report. With more than 40 dead in six states, a state of emergency has been declared by recovering counties across the South.
The storm, originating in the Pacific Ocean, gained power over land from last week’s warm weather and took its first casualty in Missouri and two more in Oklahoma Thursday, April 14. By the time the storm passed through Arkansas late Thursday night, it had produced seven tornadoes across the state and created powerful straight-line winds in excess of 70 miles per hour. Seven deaths were reported in Arkansas, with straight-line winds sending large trees onto the homes of five victims, and tornadoes responsible for the death of a mother and son in Little Rock.
After reaching the Atlantic Ocean Saturday, April 17, the storm had taken seven more lives in Alabama, at least seven in Virginia and more than 20 in North Carolina. The significant loss of life in North Carolina might be attributed to the unpreparedness of the state’s severe weather warning system, as the state sees on average 17 tornadoes a year compared to the more than 60 tornadoes that were spawned within the state April 16, according to the blog of severe weather expert Mike Smith.
Among the Arkansas deaths was 6-year-old Devon Adams, nephew of Aramark staff member Melba Schmidt, who was killed when a large tree fell on the family’s house in Bald Knob.
Danny DeRamus, director of Harding’s physical resource department, where Schmidt works, said he expressed his sympathy upon hearing of her nephew’s death.
“There are some people from Bald Knob who go to church with us, and they were talking about how sad it was and what a good kid that littlekid was,” DeRamus said. “I know God will take care of everything.”
Funeral services for Adams were held Wednesday afternoon in Bald Knob.
The system left a wide path of destruction, but Smith said in his weather blog it could have been much worse. With tornado watches issued more than 12 hours before the system moved through, weather services and social media played a critical role in severe weather safety, Smith said.
“There is no doubt that the effective forecasts and warnings likely saved hundreds of lives,” Smith said.
Harding’s campus did not emerge from the weather system untouched, with several large trees downed, black- outs in several buildings and debris scattered across campus.
DeRamus described the damage as most likely caused by straight-line winds, with the larger trees, including an estimated 60-year-old white oak by Kendall dorm, falling primarily because of damaged or diseased roots, an estimated $3,000 in damages to campus roofs and two student cars crushed by large tree limbs.
“I feel like we were pretty lucky,” DeRamus said. “The grounds crew and Buddy Weeks have worked really hard trying to prepare for the big group of kids coming at the end of the week. It’s a big deal for Harding and for all of us. We just want to put it back as normal as possible. It’s just a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time after such a traumatic experience.”
About 40 Harding students, faculty and staff participated Tuesday in helping the physical resource staff clean up the smaller limbs and debris across campus before another line of storms hit the area later that evening.
Those who would like to organize efforts for those affected by the storms can contact Kylie Akins atkakins@harding.edu
A slideshow of damage from the storm can be foundhere.
