Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Arkansas, May 30 to 31, 2013

An EF1 tornado blew the roof off a metal barn, destroyed a shed, damaged the roof of a house, and blew down many large trees.

An EF2 tornado blew the roof off one house and damaged another. A number of outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off. Two people were injured.

Numerous trees were blown down in and near Mountain Home. One tree fell onto the roof of a house.

An EF1 tornado blew down timber and deer stands.

Some trees were blown down. The tornado exited Pike County 1.5 miles northeast of Rosboro and entered Clark County 2.3 miles northwest of Amity. This is the first segment of a four-segment tornado.

This tornado exited Pike County 1.5 miles northeast of Rosboro and entered Clark County 2.3 miles northwest of Amity. In Clark County, the tornado destroyed a mobile home, injuring five people. Four houses had minor damage. A large metal building was badly damaged. Many trees were uprooted or snapped off; one of the trees fell on a house. The tornado exited Clark County 3.2 miles west-northwest of Elm and entered Montgomery County 2.1 miles east-southeast of Welsh. This is the second segment of a four-segment tornado.

This tornado exited Clark County 3.2 miles west-northwest of Elm and entered Montgomery County 2.1 miles east-southeast of Welsh. In Montgomery County, trees were snapped off or uprooted. The tornado exited Montgomery County 4.2 miles east-northeast of Welsh and entered Hot Spring County 1.6 miles west of Bonnerdale. This is the third segment of a four-segment tornado.

This tornado exited Montgomery County 4.2 miles east-northeast of Welsh and entered Hot Spring County 1.6 miles west of Bonnerdale. In Hot Spring County, trees were uprooted. This is the fourth segment of a four-segment tornado.

A waterspout developed in Lake Ouachita, north of the Brady Mountain area. Its starting point was determined based on videos and interviews with witnesses. The waterspout moved onshore, becoming a tornado, about 1.5 miles east of Lena Landing. Huge trees were blown down or snapped off on Air National Guard Cove. The falling trees damaged a house and a number of cabins, with some of the cabins having holes poked in their roofs. Farther away from the lake, a lessening number of trees were blown down.

This tornado exited McCurtain County, Oklahoma, 1.4 miles southeast of Plunkettville and entered Polk County, Arkansas, 3 miles southwest of Cove. In Arkansas, several mobile homes were damaged, including one that was crushed by a large tree and another that rolled over onto two vehicles. Trees were blown down onto a house, and a barn was destroyed. Several houses suffered roof damage. Numerous large trees, power lines, and power poles were blown down. Two cars were crushed by falling trees. Five people were injured.

An EF1 tornado damaged several houses, mostly on their roofs, but one house lost a room that had been added on. A mobile home and two travel trailers were destroyed, and another mobile home had one end torn off. A few barns and outbuildings were destroyed. A falling tree crushed a van and another went through the roof of a mobile home. Numerous large trees were snapped off or blown down.

Trees were blown down.

An EF1 tornado caused a mobile home and a horse trailer to be crushed by falling trees. Shingles were blown off a house. The metal roof was blown off a shed. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off.

Trees were blown down.

Trees were blown down.

An EF1 tornado uprooted trees and blew down part of a hay barn.

Widespread flash flooding occurred in Polk County. U.S. 71 was closed from Mena to the Scott County line. Arkansas 8 and Arkansas 370 were flooded in the eastern part of the county. A landslide closed Arkansas 88 a few miles west of Mena. A number of county roads were impassable; 30 bridges were damaged and 3 were washed out. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Big Fork measured 7.55 inches of rain and Mena collected 7.07 inches. At the Mena airport, rainfall on the 30th measured 4.07 inches, followed by another 1.69 inches on the 31st. A fiber optic cable was knocked out of service. As a result, there was no landline phone service, cell phone service, or Internet service to most of the county for about 24 hours from the 30th into the 31st.

Brushy Creek washed a house off its foundation about 3.8 miles west-northwest of Pencil Bluff. The house finally stopped moving when it ran up against a tree line. The occupants of the house survived. U.S. 270 flooded near Pencil Bluff and Arkansas 8 flooded near Norman. Numerous county roads were flooded. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Oden measured 6.13 inches of rain and Pine Ridge collected 5.98 inches. At the Mount Ida airport, rainfall on the 30th measured 3.42 inches, followed by another 1.43 inches on the 31st. Also at the Mount Ida airport on the 30th, 0.66 inch of rain fell in the 5-minute period ending at 6:53 PM CDT, 0.97 inch fell in the 10-minute period ending at 6:54 PM CDT, and 1.20 inches fell in the 15-minute period ending at 6:56 PM CDT.

Numerous trees were blown down.

An EF1 tornado took part of the roof off a church and damaged the roofs of several nearby houses. The front of an old motor home was badly damaged by pieces of the church roof flying off. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, and trees were blown down.

Arkansas 7 flooded near Hot Springs Village and 6 to 8 inches of water covered Central Ave. at the U.S. 70/270 Bypass. Water eventually rose to a depth of 2 feet on some roads in Hot Springs Village. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Jessieville measured 3.80 inches of rain.

Trees were blown down on Arkansas 113 near Wye.

Trees were blown down.

A number of roads were flooded, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the county. The Alum Fork of the Saline River flooded Arkansas 9. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Alum Fork measured 4.17 inches of rain.

A number of roads were flooded. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Conway measured 3.77 inches of rain.

Trees were blown down, with some falling on houses.

A brief EF1 tornado blew in the north doors of a metal building and pushed out the south wall. A mobile home was moved off its foundation. Numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted.

Numerous streets and roads were flooded. The Little Rock Fire Department responded to several calls of cars stalled in high water. At one time, water was as much as 3 feet deep on some roads in the Ferndale area. The body of an 18 year-old male was found in Coleman Creek on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The state medical examiner ruled drowning as the cause of death, but it was not known how he ended up in the water. He was not a student at the university. At the Little Rock airport on the 30th, 2.06 inches of rain fell in the 30-minute period ending at 9:57 PM CDT, 2.73 inches fell in the 45-minute period ending at 10:13 PM CDT, and 3.09 inches fell in the one-hour period ending at 10:17 PM CDT. The 3.09 inches of rain in one hour broke the previous all-time record for the greatest amount of rain in one hour in Little Rock. The previous record was 3.00 inches on May 26, 1955.

Trees were snapped off or uprooted.

Numerous trees were blown down, with some of the trees landing on houses.

A trained spotter estimated winds at 60 mph.

A brief EF1 tornado caused damage, mainly to trees. However, one of these trees killed a 33 year-old man when it fell on his car. He was driving on Main St./Arkansas 291 in Tull on his way to work. This was the first tornado fatality in Grant County in more than 60 years. A few houses had minor roof damage.

Two homes lost their roofs, a home was knocked off its foundation, and trees were blown down.

Severe flash flooding occurred across a large part of Scott County. Soon after Midnight CDT on the 31st, two women called 911 after flooding from Mill Creek trapped them in their house at Y City. The Scott County Sheriff and a Wildlife Officer First Class from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission responded to the call. According to the incident report by the Game and Fish Commission, the rescuers reached the house in an aluminum motorboat, removed one woman from the house and put here in their boat. As they were trying to rescue the second woman, the house collapsed due to the force of the floodwaters. The boat then capsized, drowning the three people in the boat, and the woman in the house also drowned. (The sheriff was a 41 year-old male, the wildlife officer was a 32 year-old male, and the women in the house were females 60 and 65 years old.) It took until June 2nd to recover the bodies of all the victims. Recovery operations were greatly hampered by another round of heavy rain and flooding on the morning of June 1st. Altogether, about 20 people had to be rescued from the flood waters. U.S. 71, the main north-south route through western Arkansas, flooded at Y City. The flooding caused a car to be washed off the highway and a 42 year-old woman in the car drowned. Her husband survived, but had to cling to the bank of a stream for 6 hours before being rescued. Several other cars were washed off roads, as well, but the motorists survived. Arkansas 28 was washed out at Little Cedar Creek (10 miles east of Y City), Big Cedar Creek (12 miles east of Y City), and the Fourche LaFave River (16.5 miles east of Y City). Numerous county roads and bridges were washed out. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Parks measured 7.78 inches of rain and Waldron picked up 5.26 inches. Houses were flooded at a number of places, including Y City, Boles, and Parks. The American Red Cross indicated 7 houses and 15 mobile homes were destroyed, 9 houses and 4 mobile home had major damage, 13 houses and 3 mobile homes had minor damage, and 14 houses and 8 mobile homes were affected. A fiber optic cable was knocked out of service. As a result, there was no landline phone service, cell phone service, or internet service to most of the county for about 24 hours from the 30th into the 31st.

Widespread flooding occurred in Lonoke County.

A barn was blown into the road, and trees and power lines were blown down.

A brief EF1 tornado uprooted or snapped numerous trees in a cemetery, and an adjacent building suffered roof damage.

An EF1 tornado began around Greenlee Park on the east side of Brinkley and moved mostly to the north. It took the roof off a house, slightly injuring a person inside. A few other buildings had minor roof damage. Trees were uprooted or snapped off. The tornado continued into St. Francis County 2.5 miles west-southwest of Wheatley.

Large amounts of rain over the Ouachita River and its tributaries on May 30th and 31st contributed to a significant rise on Lake Ouachita. The river rose several feet in one day, with further rises into early June.

Large amounts of rain over the Ouachita River and its tributaries on May 30th and 31st contributed to a significant rise on Lake Ouachita. The river rose several feet in one day, with further rises into early June.

Water was flowing across Arkansas 17 at Weldon.

Very heavy rainfall on the evening of the 30th into the morning hours on the 31st, along with Remmel Dam releases, caused the Ouachita River at Jones Mill to rise above flood stage during the early morning hours on the 31st. This river fell rapidly back below flood stage only about 4 hours later.

Heavy rain caused considerable damage to county roads and bridges.

Heavy rain caused considerable damage to county roads and bridges.

Heavy rain caused considerable damage to county roads and bridges.

Heavy rain caused considerable damage to county roads and bridges.

Heavy rain caused considerable damage to county roads and bridges.

There was considerable damage to county roads and bridges. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Batesville Lock and Dam measured 4.26 inches of rain. At the Batesville airport, rainfall on the 31st measured 6.25 inches.

Nimrod Lake began a rapid rise, due to heavy rain over the Fourche LaFave River and its tributaries.

Nimrod Lake began a rapid rise, due to heavy rain over the Fourche LaFave River and its tributaries.

Very heavy rainfall on the evening of the 30th into the morning hours of the 31st caused the Fourche LaFave River near Gravelly to rise rapidly above flood stage during the morning hours on the 31st, reaching a record level of 32.6 feet about midday. This river remained above flood stage into the early morning hours on June 1st.

Heavy rainfall in late May caused the White River at Augusta to rise back above flood stage during the evening hours on the 31st. This river remained above flood stage into June.