Mayflower, Arkansas hit again. This time the weather.

by Charlton (Chuck) Stanley, weekend contributor

One year ago this month, I posted my first blog as a weekend guest blogger. You can read it here. That story involved a major oil spill when the Exxon Pegasus pipeline ruptured at Mayflower. That pipeline was carrying tar sands oil. Thousands of gallons of raw oil spilled from the rupture into the south end of Lake Conway and parts of Mayflower. Oil ran down the streets of the small town.

A small geography lesson. Little Rock is located in almost the exact center of the state. Little Rock and North Little Rock are bisected by the Arkansas River. Conway is about thirty miles northwest of Little Rock. Mayflower is between Conway and Little Rock and considered by local people to be a suburb of both cities.

At about 7:00 PM Central Time, a massive tornado hit Mayflower. The total number of dead and injured is not known yet, but an early breaking news story says a body was found near I-40. Cars, trucks and recreational vehicles are shown piled up like jackstraws in some of the photos posted to social media and news sites. The twister was reported by storm chasers to be a half-mile wide.

In early reports, the tornado missed the most congested parts of Little Rock and Conway, but there is damage in the suburbs, including Mayflower, which is virtually leveled. It is too early to get a good handle on the storm track. Other states were hit as well, including Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma. Since this story is only about three hours old, and it is dark, no one knows the full extent of the damage, or the number of dead and injured.

There are one or two good videos up so far, posted just minutes ago on YouTube. This first one is an aerial view from a drone, posted by one of the reporters from KATV.

This video shows why you should stop driving and park when you first see one of these monsters.

More early photos and information from Epoch Times.
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