Arkansas Emergency Management is confirming 3 dead in Van Buren County. The Van Buren coroner has only reported 1 confirmed death. Officials say they believe there are more, but they cannot get to them at this time.
25 people were seriously injured within the county in the city of Scotland. Cars are in ditches, power lines are down and most of the community is without power.
Gov. Mike Beebe has ordered a full guard unit to be deployed to the county. Fifty soldiers from the 39th Brigade have been called to help with the damage in Scotland, and another 50 from the 189th airlift to go to East End.
A shelter has been set up at East End Elementary for residents who have been displaced from their homes. Officials are still checking houses in the East End area. There is significant damage to their only fire department.
No injuries or deaths have been confirmed as of now in Saline County. Mobile home damage has been seen. Reports are coming in of people trapped due to roads being blocked. A gas station and a church in the community has been reported damage. Downed power lines and trees are also being reported.
In Conway County, damage reports are confined to Northern and Western Conway County. A family is alive after their house collapsed in the storm, but there are no injuries.
Two tornadoes are confirmed in Cleveland and Center Ridge communities.
Center Ridge is being reported as the hardest hit in Conway County by Stewart Nelson, a police information officer with Conway County Sheriff’s Office.
Another home has been destroyed with some family members missing, according to first responders in Conway County. Parts of Highway 9 are reported being damaged. Trees are blocking the roadway; there are also reports of a mobile home being damaged near Woolverton Mountain.
Trees & power lines are down are down across northern Conway County, individuals are advised to stay away and report utility failures to the nearest law enforcement agencies. Reports are that at least 6 homes have been destroyed, with several more damaged.
Hwy 9 and 95 in northern Conway County are closed due to down trees and power lines. The Conway County mobile command center has been dispatched to the Center Ridge area and first responders are currently conducting a house by house rescue and assessment of damages. Search and rescue and damage assessments will continue throughout the night until all individuals are accounted for. So far, Brandon D. Baker, the director of Conway County Emergency Management, says there are no fatalities.
Three homes have been destroyed in the Shady Grove area. Highway 10 in that area has also been damaged.
White County officials are confirming a report that a 13-year-old has been struck by lightning. No word was said on the condition or the gender of the person.
Damage also has been reported in Pulaski County, where the Arkansas State Police reported sightings of tornadoes in Culpepper, near Wrightsville and on Interstate 440 near Galloway Friday night. I-530 is also blocked near Pratt Road. Pulaski Dispatch reports residential damage along 365 South around Wrightsville.
In Dallas County, power lines and trees are down. Roads are completely blocked west of Carthage.
Officials are continuing to assess the damage.
Structure damage and trees down at Jones Road and Hwy 31 has been reported as a result of the storm near Beebe.
Quarter-sized hail being was reported in Russellville. Hail measuring 1.75 inches in diameter was reported in Sevier and Washington counties.
Brigette Williams with the American Red Cross tells Today’s THV they will be in the communities hardest hit by these storms Saturday morning to look at the needs of the residents.
