Much of Central Arkansas (and certain other parts of the state) is still reeling from a March 31, 2023, tornado outbreak that produced two EF3 tornadoes in Arkansas, among other tornadoes. The outbreak, which went across several states and continued through part of April 1, produced 132 tornadoes during a 24-hour period. The EF3 tornado in Central Arkansas (where I am) had peak winds of 165 mph – and to my understanding, it would have been rated as an EF4 if it had been 166 mph instead!

I was at work at the time, and the sirens would sound and then stop. Then they would sound again later and stop. I have since realized that this is how many tornado systems are designed–they sound for a period of time when a warning is issued, then they are quiet for a period, and then they continue again (unless the warning is removed). But the sirens themselves are apparently meant for people who are outdoors rather than people who are indoors – so it isn’t necessary for them to be continuous (without interruption). The anxiety during the period kept growing. I typically find myself in tornado warnings at home, but this was during the day, and the time period in which it lasted felt quite long.

My family lost power for a few days, and I know people who were without power for over a week. We had what was probably $200 worth of food spoil since our fridge lacked power and since we acted too slowly to put things in cooler, as we had never been without power for long save during a bad ice storm. We had to use a solar light that we had outside indoors because we couldn’t find any reasonably priced flashlights when we went to a store in the area that had power. (I wasn’t about to pay for a $70 flashlight!) We charged our phones in the car. We considered going to a hotel but refrained. We realized that our gas hot water heater still worked, but it was a delayed realization because our circulating pump (which brings us hot water quickly since it otherwise takes a long time) was not working. Fortunately, it wasn’t hot enough yet that we were incredibly miserable. But I did get behind on laundry when I lacked power, so my husband took some items to a laundromat. We finally had family drive to us with a generator that enabled me to get started on laundry (for a family of five that goes through laundry like water) and enabled us to power other important things like our fridge. Not too long after that, we got power.

But these hardships were nothing compared to what so many people must have faced. The damage was extreme in various places across Central Arkansas. I personally saw a church that was demolished, trees over houses, missing roofs, chunks of roofs gone and various roofs covered in tarps covering up whatever damage was done. There were massive amounts of limbs and broken trees in various areas. I saw photos and videos of places near family members, friends, and co-workers who had very close calls with themselves and/or their property.

In spite of the extreme damage, when it comes to Arkansas specifically, just one person in Little Rock and four people in Wynne died. I can only think that more might have died if only there hadn’t been so many people at work at the time. Having said that, Wynne made the decision to close their schools early (the school and daycare my kids were in did not do that), and because they did, their decision saved many lives – as the high school was destroyed. I can only imagine how hard it would be to face a decision like that – typically, congregating in one spot would seem to decrease the risk of something happening to kids, as opposed to spreading out the area in which they are located and seemingly increasing the probability that someone would be harmed. However, the decision that was made saved so many lives.

A few days later, something I had never experienced happened. Schools and daycares closed for the entire day because of a potential lower-risk tornado outbreak. The weather conditions were nothing like they had been for the previous outbreak, but people were just so worried in light of what had just happened that they shut down.

The glimmer of gold in all the destruction is that there were not more deaths. I still find it incredible based on the damage I have seen. Furthermore, I am so thankful that my family members are safe and that my home is still standing. Seeing the way that communities have come together to assist with the tornado relief has also been incredible. My heart goes out to the families of those that were lost in the tornado outbreak (in Arkansas and elsewhere), but the beauty of life has been working hard in an attempt to outshine the darkness.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_March_31_%E2%80%93_April_1,_2023

https://www.weather.gov/lzk/svr0323a.htm

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/wynne-high-school-tornado/91-ac19db1f-73ca-4307-99d3-1833f70b512c