Aerial Drone Footage Shows Extent of Central U.S. Tornado Destruction

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By Brian Ries2014-04-28 04:16:52 UTC

A massive tornado tore through the central U.S. on Sunday evening, leaving at least six people dead, scores injured and entire neighborhoods flattened.

The damage in Arkansas is reportedly "widespread," a spokesman for the state's governor tells CNN, with multiple reports of injuries in the towns of Mayflower and Vilonia.

See also: Dangerous Multi-State Tornado Outbreak Now Underway

"I can't even get down the main street down to the middle of town," Vilonia Mayor James Firestone tells CNN. "I am trying to make my way through the downed trees and power lines. What I am seeing, it is a lot of damage. I've been listening to the rescue folks. They're saying people have to be extracted from vehicles. ... It looks pretty bad. From what I understand, there has been a subdivision that's been leveled."

Stormchaser and KATV photojournalist Brian Emfinger shot aerial drone footage (see above) just after the tornado moved through Mayflower, Arkansas, that shows the path of destruction cutting across Interstate 40 — now littered with cars, trucks and trailers.

The tornado was "at least a half mile wide," Greg Johnson, an author and storm chaser with tornadohunter.com told Mashable. It hit Vilonia after dark, a "worst case scenario," he says, coming nearly three years to the day as the devastating April 2011 tornado that killed four.

"The scene here is incredible," Johnson says. "Entire town destroyed and the damage is definitely F5 caliber. Many killed and injured. We have been doing first aid and there are thousands of volunteers and emergency personnel on the ground searching. Entire homes swept off their foundations. Strong brick homes. Complete devastation," he says.

A huge swath of the central United States, stretching from Nebraska to northern Louisiana, had been put on high alert through Sunday night for severe thunderstorms, including the possibility of multiple strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging straight-line winds.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which is the tornado forecasting branch of the National Weather Service, had issued a string of tornado watches, with the greatest risk of long-lasting, strong tornadoes focusing on Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas and northern Louisiana — watches that proved true.

Until Sunday, 2014 has seen one of the quietest tornado seasons on record, which forecasters worry may have lulled residents in tornado-prone states into a sense of complacency.

Now, with at least two towns badly hit and casualties expected to rise, the year's tornado season is officially underway.

Andrew Freedman contributed to this report.

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Topics: Arkansas, Climate, Drones, natural disaster, tornadoes, U.S., US & World

Video: YouTube, Brian Emfinger