Our return trip, tinged by tragedy

We arrived home in Monticello around lunch time today. We had a relatively easy drive back from Jackson, Tennessee where we stayed last night, even though the kids did get kind of squirrely and loud at times, which is probably to be expected given their extended time in the car during the last week. The most unsettling part of this trip was the tragic sight of the small southeastern Arkansas town of Dumas...


Today was cool, with clear blue skies and only some moderate wind. A far cry from a week ago Saturday, when warm, moist air was being pumped north via stiff winds. A cold front dropping in from Canada helped trigger a series of severe storms that raked the whole state of Arkansas, but were most noticeably expressed as they skirted across southern Arkansas. As we sat and watched a DVD of the Lord of the Rings, this frontal systems passed menacingly through Monticello, but did little more than minor damage and some brief power outages. Dumas, a small town just 30 miles or so east of Monticello wasn't nearly as lucky. They were struck by a couple tornadoes, one of which plowed through much of the center of town.


This twister first struck the industrial park on the west side of town, severely damaging several of the major industries, including this animal food manufacturing facility. Note the large steel girders crumpled by the storm. We actually go to church with a family whose father is one of the managers of this plant--they are planning to rebuild the facility, which is good for this family and the whole community. After striking another manufacturing facility (which may or may not reopen), the tornado continued its path through a woodlot and then into the main business section of town.
The pile of debris shown in the picture above is a local restaurant that we have eaten at before--they had a good catfish dinner. The business is a total loss, surrounded by a number of other businesses that also were wiped out. The tornado then crossed highway 165, which is a major north-south route between Lake Village and Pine Bluff, before striking additional businesses across the highway:

The Fred's dollar store (just left of center of this picture) was half leveled, with a number of terrified shoppers seeking shelter in the (mercifully) intact portion of the store. After striking the Fred's, the tornado continued into a residential neighborhood behind the shopping areas, damaging a number of homes, and then struck some more business along another highway before entering more of the farmland near town and finally dissipating in the country. We first started seeing noticeable damage of this storm system by a small village of Back Gate perhaps 10 miles to the northeast of Dumas, where debris was strewn through the fields and a few structures appeared to have been destroyed. Also lost was a landmark of local renown that we called the "Tire Man"--a local tire shop in Back Gate had assembled a man using various sized tires that Kenny looked for as a sign that we were getting close to home:

The Tire Man appears to have been the only fatality of this tornado, thank goodness, but a number of people were injured, some seriously. It is a miracle that more were not hurt or killed, given the devastation of parts of the town. The tornado didn't appear to be very strong, or otherwise more would have been lost. We were in North Carolina during the day the last batch of tornadoes struck Alabama and Georgia--severe weather in the South during spring is something we see every year. We're planning on beefing up the remodeling of our master bathroom this spring to help this room better withstand a storm, if we do get a direct hit. Let's pray we never do!