Town begins picking up pieces

CINCINNATI, Ark. — With the help of volunteers, residents of a small Arkansas community ripped apart by a deadly tornado Friday sifted what was left on New Year’s Day and began starting over.

Three people died in the tiny Washington County community in Friday’s predawn tornado that injured nine others and destroyed dozens of homes and buildings in Washington and Benton counties.

“We’ll just start over - nothing else you could do,” said Richard Grubbs, whose home on Arkansas 59 was destroyed. “What can you do? Lay down and quit?”

Gerald Dean “Buck” Wilson, 88; his wife, Mamie Wilson, 78; and James Richard“Dick” Murray, 78, died when the tornado touched down at 6:09 a.m. Friday. Packing winds of up to 140 mph, the twister struck quickly, giving the 100 or so residents of the farm community little time to seek shelter.

The National Weather Service in Tulsa said the tornado was 300 yards wide when it sliced through the center of Cincinnati, then widened to500 yards. It left a 21-mile path of destruction from Adair County, Okla., through Washington and Benton counties, tearing down chicken houses, barns and utility poles.

The storm went on to kill four people in Missouri.

Despite having a warning system in place since July that was supposed to automatically telephone Benton County residents in the event of an emergency, those residents received no calls early Friday about the tornado, officials said Saturday.

Residents who had signed up for the service received text messages, e-mails and voice-mail warnings, but they did not receive phone calls, said Matt Garrity, the county’s emergency services manager.

Justice of the Peace Kurt Moore, who represents the southwestern corner of Benton County where much of the tornado damage was reported, said he toured the area and asked people if they had received any telephone warning.

“Most of them had never heard of the system,” Moore said. “They just sort of looked at me when I asked. But no one got a call. That’s a serious thing.”

Garrity said the company that provides the service told him that a setting in the system that blocks telephone calls had been switched on at the request of the county.

Garrity said that mistake has now been corrected.

“We’re going to have a teleconference with them Monday morning to try and find out what happened,” he said. “I’ll take the hit for not doing further testing after we went operational.”

Volunteers hauled tree limbs, moved rubble and served hot meals Saturday in Cincinnati. The area smelled of diesel fuel from the heavy equipment and trucks working there.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said John Laster of Siloam Springs. Laster is a volunteer with Kind at Heart Ministries, a group whose members help during disasters.

Co-director Justin Johnson said the group was coordinating salvage and cleanup at the tornado site Saturday.

Volunteers were asked to keep an eye out for valuables,photographs and “anything that isn’t completely trashed,” Johnson said.

Rick Johnson, Washington County’s emergency management deputy director, said destruction from the tornado doesn’t qualify for federal help. Most of the damage is on personal property and won’t qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, he said.

However, Washington County hopes to get state aid, he said. The county plans to release a cost estimate on storm damage Monday.

Gov. Mike Beebe declared Washington and Benton counties as state disaster areas Saturday. The declaration could help defray cleanup costs in both counties.

Grubbs - who was thrown 50 feet in the tornado and whose grandmother Mamie Wilson was killed - looked through the rubble Saturday.

He salvaged a Chevrolet pickup, a string trimmer, bags of clothing, a red teddy bear and a quilt.

Sherlyn Thurman, Grubbs’ sister, stood among insulation and piles of glass, metal and splintered wood. “With something like this, where do you begin?” she asked.

Across the street, relatives pulled what they could from what was left of Kathy and Michael Murray’s home.

Michael Murray, 51, had been in the barn near the Wilsons’ home, milking cows with his father, Dick Murray, when the tornado hit. He was trapped when the barn collapsed. His father died.

The volunteer fire department’s building was destroyed by the tornado. Fire Department Capt. Kyle Jones said four trucks were saved and are being stored in nearby Lincoln.

The American Red Cross handed out food, blankets and water at the Cincinnati United Methodist Church. Church spokesman DeNese Newbill said neighbors and relatives had provided lodging for all the storm victims, so Red Cross shelter had not been necessary.

The few residents who sought help at the church were quiet Saturday.

Getting people to accept help hasn’t been easy, volunteers said.

Cincinnati residents like to be on their own even during a crisis, Jones said.

“Everybody appreciates everybody coming in to help and everything, but a lot of people like to do what they can on their own,” Jones said.