Storm Chaser Describes Long Night of Rescue After Arkansas Tornado

What's This?

Travel trailers and motor homes are piled on top of each other at Mayflower RV in Mayflower, Ark., Sunday, April 27, 2014.

Image: AP Photo/Danny Johnston/Associated Press

By Greg Johnson2014-04-28 12:52:29 UTC

VILONIA, Arkansas — Three years to the day after one of the deadliest and most prolific outbreaks of tornadoes in U.S. history, another devastating tornado claimed at least 10 lives in several communities in Arkansas.

It began Sunday afternoon, when the National Weather Service issued a PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) tornado watch for west-central Arkansas. We positioned ourselves south of the Arkansas River, west of Little Rock, where the tornado initially formed and grew into a mile wide wedge.

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

A massive tornado forms over the Arkansas River, west of Little Rock, Ark., before growing into a mile wide wedge.

Image: Greg Johnson/TornadoHunter.com

The storm — and the massive tornado it spawned — continued moving northeast toward Mayflower and eventually Vilonia. The Storm Prediction Center advised that any tornado formed in this volatile atmospheric mix could easily become a "long track" tornado, capable of destroying entire neighborhoods.

That prediction would prove to be devastatingly true.

A tornado that struck Vilonia, Ark. on April 27, 2014 leaves a path of destruction.

Image: Greg Johnson/TornadoHunter.com

My team member, Ricky Forbes, and I arrived just minutes after the storm leveled Vilonia, and it was apparent that the damage was absolute. It was easily on par with the extensive F4 and F5 damage that we had witnessed at scenes like Moore, Okla. and Joplin, Mo. in recent years.

We immediately went into first-responder mode, as already there was a group of storm refugees waiting for help. Most of the people whose lives were immediately affected by the massive twister were quiet and generally in a state of shock.

Helicopters circled overhead, and emergency personnel flooded the streets.

A helicopter is seen circling over the flattened town of Vilonia, Ark., late on Sunday, April 27, 2014.

Image: Greg Johnson/TornadoHunter.com

And we soon began hearing a series of incredible stories of survival — like the father who brought his three girls into the bathtub when the warning was issued. That bathtub was ripped from the house and it rolled several yards from the home, with dad and all four girls still huddled inside.

Or the scene where we pulled rubble off of the basement access and three families emerged unscathed, including a small baby. Off-duty firemen and police filled the streets, all lending a hand while strangers hugged, shared water and comforted those less fortunate.

My driver, Dave Squires from Saskatchewan, Canada, sat on the ground for an hour and a half stabilizing an injured woman's head and neck, while emergency personnel continued to sift through the incredible scene of devastation, searching desperately for others in need.

As the evening wore into the early hours, it grew apparent that not everyone would survive the storm. There would undoubtedly be stories of tragedy and loss.

See also: Storm-Penetrating Drones Could Fly Into Tornadoes

I don't remember many names — things happened way too quickly as we moved from one person to the next. We exchanged polite thank yous and had brief moments of tears and laughter. But I do remember a few heroic moments, when people could be heard calling for help stuck beneath the rubble, and searchers frantically lifted away debris from the remnants of countless homes and businesses to save them.

Sadly, Monday is shaping up to be yet another round of severe weather focused over Mississippi and Alabama. For the people of Vilonia, Sunday's tornado arrived in an eerily similar manner to the April 25 tornado from 2011 that killed 4 and devastated the small community north of Little Rock.

Our hearts go out to all those affected by the storms.

Greg Johnson, one of North America’s top professional storm chasers and severe weather experts, is an accomplished photographer, speaker, author and workshop leader. You can follow him on Twitter at @canadogreg.

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