Situation Report: HFI Continues Response to Historic Tornado Outbreak

Nearly a week after approximately 90 tornados struck regions in the Midwest and South, Hope Force International continues to distribute aid to hard-hit areas in central Arkansas which underwent devastating destruction. Reservists are currently tarping roofs and providing emotional and spiritual care north of Little Rock in the hard-hit communities of Vilonia and Mayflower, where 18 people were killed.

Officials expect the death toll to rise as they sift through the debris. The half-mile wide tornado that hit the area was an F4 with wind power of a least 180 mph and traveled a distance of 41 miles. The sheer power of the tornado was evident by a truck that was carried 27 miles from Mayflower to Vilonia, one of the longest reported distances in history. Meanwhile, cars, trucks, and 18-wheelers were shredded along interstate 40 north of Little Rock.

Conway, home to approximately 60,000 people, is the seventh largest city in Arkansas. This has been the state?s highest death toll since 1997, when storms resulted in the death of 25 people. This was the 28th F4 tornado in the state since 1950 and 1714 tornados have been recorded since then.

Preliminary assessments of the areas show approximately 420 homes in Mayflower were destroyed and 330 homes in Vilonia. The people of Vilonia are no strangers to disaster. In 2011, almost exactly three years to the date, another tornado severely damaged the area, killing 4 people. Before that, the so-called ?Super Twister? killed 13 people in 2008 over its 120 mile distance. 

Vilonia initially faced a massive emergency situation and a medical triage had to be opened in a Home Improvement parking lot in Mayflower. Local emergency rooms employed full staffs, dividing patients, many of whom came in on the backs of trucks, into green, yellow, and red triages based on the severity of their injuries. 

Tornados were also reported in parts of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri causing some damage, but no known injuries.

Greg Lewis, a grateful Vilonia homeowner, stated, "The Hope Force team that helped us had several team members and each one helped in so many ways.  I can never thank them enough but wanted to let you know what a great organization you have and how much we appreciate their time?. God has a plan for everything, and I?m glad his plan that day was for the Lewis family and the Hope Force family to cross paths.  You were there in our time of need and we will be eternally grateful.  I hope the Hope Force family stays safe as they travel to other areas of devastation."

Fellowship Bible Church of Conway is currently housing HFI Reservists and providing them with regular hot meals. A team of HFI chaplains has arrived in hard-hit Mississippi to offer spiritual care to the hundreds affected in the Louisville area and assessments are underway for relief support.  As stories of heartbreak and loss fill the news, please consider financially supporting HFI?s work in Arkansas and pray for the Reservists deployed, as well as those affected.