At least 17 killed as tornadoes rip through Arkansas, Oklahoma

Tuesday, 29 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Tornadoes ripped through the south-central United States on Sunday, killing at least 17 people in Arkansas and Oklahoma and wiping out entire neighbourhoods, authorities said as rescue workers searched in darkness for survivors. Winds ripped houses off their foundations and flipped cars on top of the rubble in the small town of Vilonia in central Arkansas’ Faulkner county, one of the worst-hit communities, television pictures showed.

Arkansas authorities said at least two people had died in Vilonia, three in other parts of Faulkner and six more across the state - the first reported casualties of this year’s tornado season. Another death was reported in neighbouring Oklahoma. Searchers were continuing to dig through rubble in Vilonia and a spokesman for the County Sheriff’s office said there was a “mass casualty situation”. “An entire neighbourhood of 50 or so homes has been destroyed. Many homes are completely gone except the foundation ... There is more devastation like this in other parts of Arkansas,” U.S. Representative Tim Griffin told Reuters. That twister was spotted in Quapaw, 200 miles (322 km) northeast of Oklahoma City at about 5:45 p.m., according to the weather service. Overnight tornado watches and warnings were announced in several parts of Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.