Twisters (Hope, Mountain View, Gassville: house, art, moving to)

[LadyRobyn]

edit to my last post... We got in touch finally... they are all well, but they lost a couple of friends/co-workers. Continuing to pray for you all.

[Sam I Am]

The stories are just tragic...one whole family lost in Atkins and another gentleman. A co-worker of my husband was on the phone with his wife and told her to get in the closet - she and their child barely made it there in time...and all that is left standing of their home is the closet and one interior wall. Miracles do happen, but I drove through Atkins yesterday. The devastation was heart-wrenching, but the pictures coming out of the north central part of the state are equally saddening. One poor family had just moved into their new home on Saturday before the tornado and lost everything they owned. I guess the unpredictability of the path and the drop is what is most frightening.

We heard the sirens just minutes before the tornado...but we never know - within what range has a tornado been spotted before the sirens go off? This one apparently went south and east of us, but how close does a tornado spotting have to be before the sirens sound?

[junkman18]

All these pictures I took about five miles from my house

[junkman18]

One more picture

[greenacresusa]

Junkman, are those more of the Highland photos?

[Sam I Am]

And you gotta wonder how anyone survives at all in these things...the article in the paper was so scary, no tornado like that since 1950 or something? Went 123 mi. and was up to a mile wide at some points? Or at least that's the one that hit the River Valley and went NE, there was a separte one for north central Arkansas.

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by greenacresusa

Junkman, are those more of the Highland photos?

The pictures are in Highland and Ash Flat.

[greenacresusa]

Thanks Junkman. We have land 20 miles south of there. We've been in contact with friends in the area. We can't get back out till May but wish we were there to help. Our understanding is that there isn't much left of the Highland business area.

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by greenacresusa

Thanks Junkman. We have land 20 miles south of there. We've been in contact with friends in the area. We can't get back out till May but wish we were there to help. Our understanding is that there isn't much left of the Highland business area.

The Alco, Town & country shopping center are fine. But Midway Plaza is history along with the crunchy cone,timber line the Chinese restaurant and some others.

[greenacresusa]

We saw the pictures of the China House, it was our favorite place to eat. And the Timberline was our neighbor's favorite. Even though we know a lot will be rebuilt when the insurance and federal aid kicks in, it wouldn't ever be the same again. But the best part is watching the channel 8 new videos of how everybody is helping each other out.