North-central Arkansas Tornado
The first long-lived supercell, which spawned the tornado with the longest continuous track of any single tornado in this outbreak, developed around 4:50 pm CST (2250 UTC) southeast of Centerville in Yell County. The tornado tracked into Pope County, striking the community of Atkins. Four people died in Atkins and much of the town was destroyed. The tornado continued on and crossed into Conway County where it killed two more people, injured five others, and destroyed numerous homes. The next hard hit town was Clinton in Van Buren County, where three people died. One of these deaths occurred at a boat manufacturing facility which was destroyed. The tornado continued into Stone County, where one person was killed. In the town of Mountain View the local hospital lost its roof and a fire station was destroyed. The tornado affected mostly rural areas for the rest of its path, but two additional people were killed in Izard County before it finally lifted back into the clouds northeast of Highland in Sharp County, about two hours after it initially touched down.
An aerial survey later determined that the damage across the seven counties was caused by one tornado, with a track estimated at 122 miles (196 km) in length. This was the longest single tornado track recorded in Arkansas since detailed record keeping began in 1950. The tornado was rated an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Thirteen people were killed by this tornado, and about 140 people were injured. Approximately 200 homes and businesses were destroyed along the tornado's path. Damage from this tornado was estimated at nearly $120 million across the seven counties.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak
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