Weather Service: Tornado hit GF

The National Weather Service has confirmed that the city of Green Forest was hit by an EF-1 tornado on the evening of Friday, Nov. 4.

There were no injuries or fatalities reported as a result of the storm, although there was significant property damage in the Green Forest area.

“This tornado developed southwest of Green Forest and moved into town as an EF-1 tornado, damaging trees and power poles,” the NWS reported after a survey crew visited Green Forest to assess the situation. “Several poultry barns were damaged or destroyed. Three grain bins were toppled. Multiple home were damaged in the EF-0 to EF-1 range. In southwest Green Forest, windows were broken, a garage door was pushed in, and roof decking was removed. The tornado did primarily EF-0 damage into the north side of town. The tornado continued past Green Forest damaging trees, several poultry barns and three homes. A swath of damaging wind continued on to the northeast after the tornado dissipated.”

Tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. The NWS estimated the peak wind speed of the tornado that hit Green Forest at 90 to 100 mph. The path width of the tornado was estimated at 1,100 yards.

The tornado began at 7:43 p.m., 3.4 miles southwest of Green Forest and ended at 7:51 p.m., 5.1 miles northeast of Green Forest, according to the NWS.

Carroll County Judge Ronda Griffin said she believes the tornado “skipped” on and off the ground as it traveled through Green Forest.

“It didn’t just stay on the ground,” Griffin said. “It skipped and bounced around. That’s probably what saved our little town.”

The tornado designation won’t make the city or county eligible for financial assistance, Griffin said, because most of the damaged properties were insured.

“We did not meet the threshold for financial assistance,” Griffin said. “And the reason for that is, FEMA doesn’t come in and help except for uninsured properties. The turkey houses are insured. Most of the homes are insured. Most of the cars are insured. We didn’t have any loss of life, thank God. We didn’t have any loss of turkeys. I think we lost every trampoline in the county. I did not find one trampoline that survived it. I don’t think there’s one out there.”

Green Forest School District Superintendent Matt Summers said the schools suffered only very minor damage.

“We had one window in the old rock gym that was broken and we had one tree limb down by the elementary,” Summers said. “And that’s it. We never lost power.”

There was some damage at the city-owned baseball and softball park, Summers said. The school district pays the city a fee for use of the fields.

“We’ve got fence damage on both fields,” Summers said. “We’ve got lights damage on both fields.”

Summers said he would meet with Mayor Jerry Carlton and city public works director Buddy Fry on Monday, Nov. 14.

“Right now, we are thinking as if — and hopefully the problem is solved — we may not have lights during baseball and softball season,” Summers said.

Griffin said the county would help repair the damage at the baseball and softball fields as well as the city soccer fields.

“We are looking for some more grant money because there are monies available to reconstruct the spotlights as the ballfields, the soccer fields and all of that,” Griffin said. “So we will be able to repair that. It’s just a matter of finding the funds. … We’ll help them absolutely get the soccer and baseball fields back up.”