Arkansas has experienced tornadoes in every month, but roughly half have historically struck during March, April and May.
Thus, experts urge Southeast Arkansas residents to pay extra attention to weather developments over the next 10 weeks or so.
Through 2000, the state ranked third in the number of killer tornadoes and seventh in deaths per 10,000 square miles. Deaths and injuries have steadily declined, however, with progressive early-warning capabilities.
From 1950-2011, according to the National Weather Service, Jefferson County was struck by 27 tornadoes but experienced only one fatality.
Arkansas County had the most tornadoes within the region during the 62-year span with 38. Ashley County counted 31, Chicot 28, Dallas 24, Desha and Grant 23 each, Bradley 20, Lincoln 19, Drew 16, and Cleveland 10.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Bradley County had the most fatalities with seven while Ashley totaled six and Lincoln had five. Chicot and Dallas counties each had one while there were no deaths in Arkansas, Cleveland, Desha and Grant counties.
Statewide in 2011, 56 of 75 total tornadoes hit in April, producing seven deaths. Five persons were killed in 11 May twisters.
Tornadoes aren’t the only form of severe weather, however. The thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes often generate damaging straight-line winds as well as dangerous lightning. Heavy rains within the storms sometimes generate floods.
Last year, floods claimed 11 lives in May and six in April. Twenty-two Arkansans perished in 2010 floods.
March 12-16 is the NWS’ Flood Safety Awareness Week. The agency is stressing a “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” message as about half of all flood deaths occur when motorists attempt to drive through high – and often moving – water.
The region’s most recent tornadoes occurred Jan. 22 when a series of twisters from the same storm system spanned Dallas, Cleveland, Jefferson and Arkansas counties.
The Fordyce Country Club and a 160-year-old church near Kingsland were destroyed. Homes and other structures received moderate to heavy damage in the Rison, Stuttgart and Sweden areas.
More than 40 people were injured and numerous homes and businesses were demolished in a Feb. 24, 2007, tornado at Dumas.
The state’s deadliest tornado of the 20th Century smacked Warren on Jan. 3, 1949, leaving 55 people dead and resulting in 435 injuries.
Jefferson County’s worst tornado to date took place June 1, 1947, when a twister that measured up to 1.5 miles wide ripped a 19-mile trail from the old Union community near Pine Bluff to the Tucker vicinity.
Thirty-five people died and around 300 were injured.
Arkansas saw a single-day record 56 tornadoes on Jan. 21, 1999. Locally, the Pine Bluff Arsenal sustained the most damage. Also struck were Poyen, Tucker, White Hall and rural areas near Bunn, Pastoria and Princeton.
The twister that struck White Hall cut a 16-mile path. There were no deaths or injuries in Southeast Arkansas.
The region was severely impacted by the Great Flood of 1927, America’s worst natural disaster of the 1900s. The flood stifled all modes of transportation. Fifteen people were killed in Jefferson County. The state’s death toll varied in counts from 91 to 127.
An untold number of Pine Bluff-area residents had to leave their homes for higher ground, many organizing a camp site on the Arkansas River bridge here. About 50 Arkansas National Guardsmen were assigned to protect the abandoned properties after looting began.
When levees began breaking, river waters quickly surged into nearby locales within the region. In Arkansas City, the streets were reportedly “dry and dusty” at noon on April 21 – six days after flooding commenced in Pine Bluff – but by 2 p.m., waters were rising so rapidly that mules were drowning before would-be rescuers could unbind them from wagons.