LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Several homes were damaged as a strong tornado swept through the suburbs of Little Rock, Arkansas Friday afternoon.
Several spotters and Doppler Radar confirmed a large twister struck the Little Rock area around 2:30 p.m. CT., prompting the National Weather Service to issue a rare Tornado Emergency — the most urgent tornado warning in the NWS’s arsenal.
Drone video from storm chaser Brian Emfinger with Live Storms Media shot in the moments after the tornado passed an area in west Little Rock that showed homes with roof damage and toppled trees.
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“There’s well-built homes that are damaged,” Emfinger told FOX Weather. “There’s also numerous shopping centers that have been damaged and have roof damage.” Emfinger, who has chased several storms in his career, said he saw damage that he would estimate on an EF-2 or even EF-3 level scale, though the National Weather Service would eventually make any official designation.
Madeline Roberts, Communications Director for Little Rock’s Pulaski County, reported significant damage in North Little Rock and Sherwood with power outages across Pulaski County and trees down along Interstate 430.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock says they are receiving reports of injuries, but the number and extent are not yet known.
What’s worse, another severe thunderstorm was bearing down on the damaged region Friday evening, triggering a second Tornado Warning for Little Rock and endangering emergency responders’ search and rescue efforts, National Weather Service forecasters warned.
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The tornado was part of a massive severe weather outbreak underway Friday across a wide swath of the South and Midwest.
About 87 million people were under the threat of severe weather Friday, including 18 million who were under a Level 4 or even rare Level 5 out of 5 on NOAA Storm Prediction Center’s severe weather outlooks.
Little Rock was inside the Level 4 alert zone.