RIVER VALLEY (KFSM) — The National Weather Service in Tulsa reported Monday (May 2) two additional tornadoes touched down in the River Valley on April 26, bringing the total of tornadoes from that storm system to five between Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley.
The NWS confirmed the following tornadoes:
- Muldrow: EF-1 with maximum winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour
- Kibler: EF-1 with maximum winds of 90 to 100 miles per hour
- Decatur: EF-1 with maximum winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour
- Centerton: EF-1 with maximum winds of 85 to 95 miles per hour
- Wesley: EF-1 with maximum winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour
“I had just gone to bed and the wind got so strong that it felt like it was ripping out the bedroom wall,” Rita Fitzpatrick, a Kibler resident, said. “I jumped up real quick, put my shoes on. I don’t know where I was going, but I was going somewhere, but it was bad. That wind was real bad.”
Rita’s son, Gary Fitzpatrick said his mother and many of her neighbors had at least some kind of damage.
“It ripped the shingles off the back of her house, tore the roof off of her deck, done some other things.,” Gary said. “The people right down the street here they had the big tree fall on the gas line and break the gas line, so it was pretty rough.”
Gary said the storm was gone before they knew what was hitting them.
“It happened in 30 seconds,” Gary said. “The wind, I mean, it hit, and it was gone.”
Because these storm are so quick and small, there was no warning, but Rita said she had a feeling it was a tornado.
“It had a roaring, whizzing sound kind of, you know, just buzz, like that, but it wasn’t good,” Rita said.
The total number of tornadoes in Oklahoma and Arkansas from the April 26 outbreak is 15, according to the NWS.
