Arkansas, Oklahoma Still Recovering From Last Week’s Tornadoes

Oklahoma and Arkansas continue recovery efforts following a series of tornadoes that ripped through the region last week.

An EF2 tornado in Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller area destroyed homes, boat docks and buildings. State officials, local authorities and residents have been assessing the damage in a variety of methods, the Southwest Times Record reported.

“We had water pouring in these vents and the lights, and the spare bedroom was pouring in water,” said Tela Brown, a Blackgum resident affected by Friday’s twister. “We’ll just take our time, clean it up and rebuild.”

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 12 of the state’s counties on Monday. The executive order is in effect for 30 days, allowing state agencies to make emergency purchases to expedite the delivery of resources to local counties.

Another EF2 tornado barreled through Crawford County, Arkansas, the same day. That storm missed the threshold requirements to be eligible for federal assistance.

Brad Thomas, Crawford County Emergency Management director, said the point total for eligibility wasn’t “anywhere close” to what they needed for state assistance.

“With a tornado, it’s going to be hard to do,” Thomas said. “It would take a massive amount of damage to qualify.”

Van Buren, Arkansas, officials have announced plans to remove waste and debris in the city.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Oklahoma