2:45 P.M. UPDATE:
Much of the storm damage in Hot Springs Village Thursday night was due primarily to trees felled by a weak EF2 tornado, the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said Friday afternoon.
The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornados that range from 111 to 135 mph to be an EF2. A damage survey released at 2:24 p.m. said the tornado's path was up to 1,000 yards wide and 8.5 miles long.
The initial damage, the report said, was near the intersection of Highway 7 north and Casual Place with winds around 115 mph "at the onset of the tornado."
"Extensive tree damage consistent with an EF-2 was observed as the tornado moved northeastward into Hot Springs Village with an impressive number of snapped trunks and uprooted trees," the report said. "Through this area, many homes sustained damage primarily from falling trees as opposed to direct tornado winds."
Near Montanoso Circle, "the roof of a building along the bluff was blown off and thrown approximately 80 yards to the northeast," the report continued. "The tornado appeared to weaken after this with mainly EF-1 tree damage noted before the funnel lifted near the intersection of Danville Road and Road 23100" which is about a half-mile west of Old Union Primitive Baptist Church.
Emergency responders gather at the Saline County Sheriff's Mobile Command Unit Friday morning. Crews from both Garland and Saline counties were among the crews that were helping with rescue operations after a tornado hit Hot Springs Village Thursday night. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)11:15 A.M. UPDATE
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Over a dozen crews from at least six agencies were on the scene Friday morning working to assess and clean up damage in and around Hot Springs Village, where no injuries have been reported so far from Thursday night's tornado.
According to Ken Unger, the city’s Public Services director, crews are “still in search and rescue phase.”
“We’re attempting to clear the areas that we know we have downed trees, potentially downed power lines to gain access for the electric companies and also to get to residents so that we can assess each house to house whether or not we have residents that need help,” he said.
“We have about well over a dozen crews out right now, probably more than that at this point in the areas that were aware of the tornado hit down.”
Unger said Balboa Baptist Church has offered its facilities as an emergency shelter. The biggest concern for emergency workers is to make sure residents are not in need of medical attention.
“We have a lot of elderly residents here,” he said. "They have medical conditions. We’re trying to ascertain their status and if their power is going to be a lot longer than maybe their medical apparatus requires. We’re trying to move them into a safe environment.”
First Electric Cooperative Corp. reported around 11 a.m. that 764 customers were without power, and 1,492 Entergy customers are without power.
“I just coordinated with them — both First Electric and Entergy, so that if they have inability to get to their power lines, we have heavy equipment that we’re moving into place to help support their tree removal operations and get their power lines restored,” Unger said. “Right now we have about 3,000 residents without power, and our hope is that hopefully by the weekend, that number is cut in half. Hopefully, by early next week, that number is gone.”
While an exact path has not been determined, Unger said it appears the tornado was approximately a quarter-mile wide.
“It came across the Village on a slight 45-degree angle, it looks like so far,” he said.
“And we’ve done some scatter plots of the 911 calls that we’ve gotten and other areas that we’ve seen. I don’t know that we have a full-width estimate yet, but I would bet to say it’s probably a quarter-mile.
“It looks like it bounced through its path. We have areas where we have destruction and there’s nothing and then more destruction, which is not atypical for a tornado in my experience. It ran for pretty good distance, everything west of Minorca (Road) over to Balearic (Road) was probably was in that line, that 45-degree line. And I can’t tell you right now how long it ran. It ran a pretty good distance.”
The National Weather Service office in Little Rock picked up a debris signature on radar around 8:05 p.m. that indicated a tornado had struck near the town in Garland and Saline counties, a post on X, formerly Twitter, stated. Baseball-sized hail was also reported there.
At 9:18 p.m., the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management posted on X that emergency crews are responding to storm damage in the Hot Springs Village area. “Reports of downed power lines on Desoto Blvd and roof damage to homes on HWY 7. Electrical lines down, making the area potentially hazardous. We advise everyone to avoid the area until it is safe to return,” the post said.
At one point, around 5,500 Entergy Arkansas customers were without service in Garland County, including the outages in northern Garland County and around 2,500 Entergy Arkansas customers south of Airport Road to the county line.
The outages in the south and western portions of the county were restored by around 9:30 p.m.
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9 A.M. UPDATE
Around 1,800 Garland County residents were still without power Friday morning following Thursday night's severe weather, with hundreds of the outages being reported in Hot Springs Village, where a tornado touched down.
Outside the Village, downed lines and broken utility poles were lying across a parking lot in the 3900 block of Arkansas Highway 7 north, where Right at Home and Grand Nails & Spa are located.
Downed utility lines lie in a parking lot in the 3900 block of Arkansas Highway 7 north Friday morning following severe weather Thursday night. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh) ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Tornado damage was reported in the Arkansas Highway 7 north area in and around Hot Springs Village Thursday night, and county and state officials were urging the public to avoid the area.
"Tornado damage near and in Hot Springs Village, please avoid the area until crews have had a chance to assess damage," County Judge Darryl Mahoney said in a Facebook post shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
"Prayers for all involved."
An incident command was established in the Village at the Cortez Fire Station, according to emergency agencies involved in the response. Multiple fire departments, Arkansas State Police and the Garland County Sheriff's Office were included in the response.
Alvero Way is blocked by multiple trees down Thursday night following a tornado in Hot Springs Village. (Photo courtesy of the Garland County Sheriff's Office) "The Garland County Sheriff's Office has several units assisting" Hot Springs Village, Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick confirmed.
McCormick said that, as of 10 p.m. Thursday, no injuries had been reported.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, at 9:12 p.m. said "multiple trees are down in Hot Springs Village due to the severe weather in the area. Traffic is being diverted in the 3000 block of HWY 7."
The Garland County Sheriff's Office later reported that the roadway had reopened.
DeSoto Boulevard in the Village was "impassable at this time. Please avoid the area," the post said.
At 9:18 p.m., ADEM posted that emergency crews are responding to storm damage in the Hot Springs Village area. "Reports of downed power lines on Desoto Blvd and roof damage to homes on HWY 7. Electrical lines down, making the area potentially hazardous. We advise everyone to avoid the area until it is safe to return," the post said.
Storm damage is shown inside Hot Springs Village after a reported tornado Thursday night. (Photo courtesy of the Garland County Sheriff's Office) At one point, around 5,500 Entergy Arkansas customers were without service in Garland County, including the outages in northern Garland County and around 2,500 Entergy Arkansas customers south of Airport Road to the county line.
The outages in the south and western portions of the county were restored by around 9:30 p.m.
Around 3,300 outages remained in the county as of 10 p.m., according to Entergy's outage website.