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EF2 tornado in Faulkner County, Arkansas

Tornado April 25, 2011 · Faulkner County, Arkansas

EF2
Rating
51.3 mi
Whole path
2,900 yd
Path width
4
Deaths
16
Injuries
$53.4M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pulaski County → Faulkner County → Pulaski County → Faulkner County → White County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 2,900 yards (1.65 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado exited Pulaski County north-northwest of Morgan and re-entered Faulkner County east-southeast of Mayflower. In Faulkner County, it first moved through the northwest part of Camp Joseph T. Robinson, a National Guard facility. Thousands of trees were blown down in the area of Arkansas Highway 89 and Clinton Rd. In addition, numerous power lines were blown down and some homes and outbuildings were damaged. Similar damage occurred as the tornado continued moving to the northeast. At the Black Oak Ranch Estates mobile home park, numerous mobile homes were destroyed and four people were killed. Two of the victims, a 63 year-old man and a 55 year-old man, were in separate mobile homes. The other two victims, a man and his wife, both 45 years-old, had left their mobile home and taken shelter in a large, metal, intermodal shipping container. The tornado carried the container approximately 150 yards, depositing it on the bank of a pond. The tornado next moved through Vilonia, causing damage to residences over a large part of the town. Businesses along U.S. Highway 64 were also damaged. Also on the highway, two tractor-trailers overturned, with one of them spilling its load of food products. After leaving Vilonia, the tornado continued on to the northeast. Additional trees were blown down, and houses and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. The Red Cross indicated that approximately 34 houses and 62 mobile homes were destroyed, 91 houses and 41 mobile homes suffered major damage, 145 houses and 43 mobile homes had minor damage, and 53 houses and 38 mobile homes were affected. The tornado then exited Faulkner County south of Mount Vernon and moved into White County west of Hammonsville.

The wider storm

From the 24th through the 27th, the arrival of a slow-moving cold front and several low pressure areas aloft triggered several rounds of thunderstorms. Tornadoes, severe storms, and flash flooding resulted. Widespread areal flooding followed the flash flooding. Some of this flooding was due to heavy rain, while some of it was caused by water from rivers, creeks, and bayous backing up onto the land. On the evening of the 25th, devastating tornadoes affected several areas in central Arkansas. More than 140,000 electric customers in Arkansas lost power. Heavy rains during this period were the beginning of the Great Flood of 2011 in Arkansas. Much of the flooding lasted well into May, and some even continued all the way to late June.

Began near Mayflower (34.9309, -92.3930).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

18 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 289612. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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