Twisters Rip Into Missouri and Arkansas, Killing 3
Residents sifted through debris Wednesday and counted their blessings after deadly tornadoes swept through parts of southwestern Missouri and central Arkansas.
Thunderstorms rolled through the Missouri counties of Lawrence and Barton west of Springfield late Tuesday and early Wednesday, spawning tornadoes that killed two women and injured at least 20 other people. A tornado destroyed a home south of Enola, Ark., on Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring at least 13 others, authorities said.
Debra F. Pennell, 32, was killed and five people were injured when a tornado touched down south of Kenoma, Mo., about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Barton County Sheriff William Griffitt said. At least two homes, one mobile home and some outbuildings were destroyed.
Marjorie Hawkins, 47, was killed and her husband, Larry, was blown out of a window into a field as a storm destroyed their house in Chesapeake, Lawrence County Sheriff Doug Seneker said. Fourteen other people were injured -- two critically -- and about a dozen homes were destroyed at the nearby Lucky Lady mobile home park.
Larry Hawkins was hospitalized with internal injuries, scrapes and bruises. A friend, Wyatt Zornes, said Hawkins recalled huddling with his wife as the storm approached. “They told each other that they love each other, and then the house fell apart and he was sucked up into the air,” Zornes said.
Lue Stelling’s mobile home was among the first hit at the Lucky Lady. She said she opened the door and saw the storm, grabbed her daughter and threw herself into a ditch. “At first, it sounded like a train. Then, it sounded like a bunch of blades cutting things up,” Stelling said.
Stelling, holding a plastic grocery bag with a few socks, T-shirts and undergarments she retrieved, was grateful for what she didn’t lose: “I may not have nothing, but we got out alive and that’s all that matters.”
Drew Albert, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, said the storm system also produced a tornado near Humansville, Mo.
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