Storm Chaser reports the Atkins, Arkansas Tornado

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Brief Summary:
At 4:30pm I reached Atkins, AR ahead of a fast moving supercell that was making a beeline for the town. Unfortunately, this part of Arkansas is heavily wooded. I had planned on chasing E AR but that didn't pan out. It took me a good 20 minutes to scout a location with good road (escape) options and view to the southwest. I found this location on the southwest side of town as the updraft base was coming into view. The base was fairly small and with rapid rotation. I was confident that it was producing a tornado without having a view of the surface. At 5:00pm, I got a clear view of the tornado as it grew form an elephant trunk within a translucent bowl of rain, into a wide stovepipe. The core overtook me at 5:02 and I never saw it again. Moments later I came across the damage 1-mile east of Atkins.

The damage track appeared to be about ¼-mile wide. Two homes on the periphery of the tornado appeared to have EF-0 to EF-1 type damage. The home in the middle of the path was completely removed from its foundation and disintegrated. It appeared to be built on a stacked cinderblock foundation. Two of the neighbors from surrounding homes were at this house looking for survivors. I asked if everyone was okay and they said they were fine. Although, they didn't know if anyone was at the home that was leveled. About an hour later I came back through the same area and there was a bad car accident at the start of the damage path. A car had collided with another vehicle that had stopped where a power pole was across the road. Judging from the damage the car must have been going at least 50mph and I wouldn't be surprised if fatalities resulted from this accident. The accident likely occurred when visibility was reduced by a line of storms moved through after the initial supercell.

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: February 6, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Author: violentplainsdotcom

Length: 00:03:00
Rating: 4.62
Views: 41732

Tags: Atkins Arkansas tornado outbreak febuary 5th 2008 2/5/08 2/5/2008 02/05/08 footage Memphis Tennessee Kentucky Ja commentary analysis documentary news

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Video Comments:
Pkm188 (November 2, 2008 at 3:17 pm)
I was visiting my cousin when we saw on the TV that is was coming.. never really thought it would actually be a tornado but once we were on the interstate we saw it and sped away.. scary moment.
Mallard3333 (October 27, 2008 at 4:43 pm)
My step dad works at RSVL fire dept. and my grandpa works att he SHerrifs Office. Said it was terrible
2koolforschool (October 11, 2008 at 4:16 pm)
i live on 12th street and it almost hit my house..
saske991 (August 27, 2008 at 10:52 pm)
My dad is on the fire department in russellville...he was on shift with a good friend...The first bodies that were recovered from the storm were his friends family...there bodies were torne into pieces...They had a tractor..it looked like someone took a piece of paper and wodded it up....but nice video!
zacefronlover123OHYA (August 22, 2008 at 1:46 pm)
that hit my house it tore up everything!!!!
souljaboysupaman (May 13, 2008 at 7:54 am)
i live in cabot and all there was is a funnel cloud
Seti1121 (May 12, 2008 at 5:24 pm)
I live not too far from Atkins. Near Searcy. There was a funnel cloud just east of my town. It was right above us. We got lucky and it never touched the ground. Arkansas is having an outbreak, it seems.
barfingjake (May 11, 2008 at 3:09 pm)
I live in Russellville, AR which is about 6-10miles from Atkins. It was surprising that there were only 3 or 4 deaths there, I went to Atkins to go to a party about a month later and it was still pretty devestating there.
arkansasboi33 (May 9, 2008 at 6:24 pm)
atkins is the redneck capital of the world
good people though
narutouzamaki56 (April 27, 2008 at 7:44 pm)
my dad used to say that in arkansak a tornado always came at 4:00! scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!