Numerous videos captured spine-tingling footage of a monster tornado that struck the small Arkansas town of Lake City Wednesday afternoon.
At least eight people have died, and many more have been injured after a major tornado outbreak devastated the Mississippi River valley Wednesday evening and Thursday. The outbreak affected Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and parts of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
One of the hardest-hit areas was Lake City, Arkansas, a town of roughly 2,500 people located in Craighead County, roughly 2 1/2 hours northeast of Little Rock. Raw cell phone footage captured by residents shows the massive wedge tornado rapidly approaching the town.
In one video, tornado sirens can be heard, making the footage even more chilling.
Another video captured by someone filming from their storm shelter shows the incredible size of the twister. The person filming can be heard praying that God will “keep it going away.”
According to Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd, Lake City residents knew that they should seek shelter about 20 minutes before the storm hit. The advanced warning system no doubt saved numerous lives as the twister was given a “particularly dangerous situation” label before it hit.
“We were blessed, got lucky for sure,” Boyd said. “We had a good warning on this. We had probably at least 20 minutes of advance notice on this that it was coming, so it allowed people to take cover.”
Approximately 15 people were injured, all of whom are recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, and no fatalities were reported in Lake City.
Photos of the Lake City tornado aftermath show the magnitude of the storm.
Photojournalist Brian Emfinger shared a series of photos he took the morning after the town was hit. Homes were leveled, cars were thrown into homes and trees, and trees were stripped of bark.
Lake City resident Jared Eidson discovered that his truck was missing after his home was hit by the tornado. The truck was later discovered in the middle of a field, with no skid marks to be found. Eidson shared photos of his pickup, a Dodge Ram 1500, before and after. The truck is unrecognizable in the latter photos. The cab appeared to have been ripped off, the body is twisted, and the tires “had been sucked off the rims.”
Eidson shared a video of his truck after it was found.
Authorities estimated that the Lake City tornado might become the first EF-5 since 2011. But, late Thursday, storm surveyors officially gave the storm an EF-3 rating, meaning that winds measured 136 miles per hour to 165 miles per hour. Officials said this tornado had 150 mph winds.
Other areas of the country weren’t as fortunate.
Nocturnal tornadoes hit areas east of the Mississippi, including Tennessee, where at least six people were killed.
In Missouri, Garry Moore, the Whitewater Fire Protection District Chief, was killed when he stopped to help a vehicle during the severe weather. In Indiana, a 27-year-old man was killed when he exited his vehicle after running over downed powerlines. Authorities said that the driver “came into contact with the live power lines,” resulting in his death.
This week’s storms are just the beginning of a very active severe weather season across the country. Areas affected Wednesday are expected to be in the path of more tornadic storms on Friday and Saturday. In addition, catastrophic “generational flooding” is also expected.