JESSIEVILLE, Ark. – A security camera outside a high school in central Arkansas caught the stunning moments an EF-1 tornado ripped through the town of Jessieville, damaging the campus and injuring at least two people Monday.
The Garland County Sherriff’s Office said the tornado traveled through the Jessieville High School area around 2:45 p.m., and at the time, the campus had plenty of students and educators fresh off their winter break.
Video showed the tornado traveling over the school’s football field, snapping lights, flipping bleachers and damaging a concession stand.
The National Weather Service office in Little Rock said staff and students were ushered into a safe room during the storm, and all emerged unharmed with no significant injuries after the tornado passed.
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The tornado was spawned by a winter storm that brought frozen precipitation to the Midwest and strong to severe thunderstorms across the South.
According to a preliminary survey, the tornado was on the ground for only around two miles and had maximum winds of more than 100 mph.
Deputies said several trees, power lines and homes were damaged along State Highway 7, but all storm victims were accounted for.
Pictures inside the school showed dislodged ceiling panels and insulation strung about, but windows and walls appeared to be intact.
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The school district canceled classes on Tuesday and said students would be taught through alternative methods of instruction through the end of the week.
The twister was one of at least 14 reported in more than half a dozen states during the early January outbreak.
Severe weather in the Southeast is not unusual during the winter months as the region is usually where warm and cold air clashes happen until the jet stream lifts further north later in the year.