By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Along with the thunder, the sound of wind and rain and the radio and TV reports, Forrest Citians heard a new sound during last night's storm.
Normally heard only in tests run every Saturday, the city's tornado alarm system was activated, even though there wasn't a tornado in Forrest City.
Mayor Larry Bryant said there was a reason for that, and the reason was safety.
"We have a protocol over there (at the police station)," said Bryant. "The National Weather Service issues a tornado warning -- I think last night they had a warning that a tornado was in the vicinity of 5 to 7 miles south of Palestine. That made it 12 to 14 miles from Forrest City and was coming this way. Luckily, it bypassed us."
He said he believed in the principle of "It's better to be safe than sorry. The radio dispatchers are the ones who need to be thanked for doing a good job."
He said the National Weather Service is closely monitored, and whether or not to sound the alarm is the decision of the officer in charge. A tornado warning in the county does not necessarily result in the sirens being activated.
"If it's over in Hughes, that's a different matter. But if they monitor it, and it looks bad, they make a judgment on it."
The sirens blew several times, because Bryant said here were several reports of severe weather. He said it worked.
"I was riding around last night, looking at the water in the streets and so forth, and you couldn't see a soul in the streets," he said. "I think our citizens took heed, understanding that Forrest City has been hit before. I've been looking at the magazine about the 1974 tornado, and we are a lot better protected than we were in the past. It's not perfect, but we're getting there."
Bryant said at present, there is no "all clear" signal. He said a warning system which includes telephone messages could have included such a signal, "but I was happy to get what we got."
The telephone warning system was considered too expensive.
Bryant said most people in town were able to hear the sirens.
"Most people can hear them," he said. "There's always going to be a small pocket somewhere, but we have a pretty good system. That's the fallacy of a siren system. You can be in a certain area and not hear it. But with the radio and TV and our system and stories in the paper on the operation of it, people are better informed. It's a collaboration of the media, city government and all, trying to warn our people about what to do."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
High winds and heavy rain may have done damage in surrounding areas, but officials in St. Francis County say the county came through Wednesday's storms in good condition.
Straight-line winds caused damage in both Lee and Cross counties Wednesday night, damaging the roof of Kelley's Restaurant in Wynne and also damaging mobile homes in a trailer park near Aubrey. According to Captain Jack Oxner with the Lee County Sheriff's Department, the damage, although minor, did hit a number of homes.
"We haven't been able to confirm whether a tornado touched down or not, but looking at the trees in the area I believe we had one touch down. There was a lot of minor damage, but we came through it pretty much OK. We had some porches pulled off of mobile homes, but we didn't have any injuries, and that was really a blessing," Oxner said.
In St. Francis County, tornado warnings were issued, but according to St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman, the county was basically passed over by the storm.
"We had storm watchers out all over the county, and they really helped us out with this. We called out a few extra people, and they came out and did their jobs. We were able to keep track of the storm. Everything really drifted north and south of us to Lee and Cross counties, but we still had our people out and ready," Parkman said.
According to Parkman, there were no tornadoes sighted on the ground in St. Francis County.
The storms did bring some flooding to the area and forced county road crews to close some roads due to high water, according to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco. Cisco said Yocona Road and a few other county roads had to be barricaded by work crews after the torrential rains pushed water onto the roadway.
"We didn't have a whole lot of damage last night, but we did have some flooding in a few areas and had to close some roads because of the rain. For the most part, we came out of the storm in good shape, and the packing rain actually helped firm up some of the roads. Overall, we came through this better than expected," Cisco said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Extension Service held its annual year-end event Tuesday evening in the Quorum Court meeting room at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
An audience, which packed the room, heard from Extension Service Director Mitch Crowe on the advances in extension programs during the year. Those in attendance were also updated on a number of programs offered through the extension service.
Byron Holmes, an area farmer, covered the agricultural end of the program, speaking to those in attendance about different variety trial tours and programs offered through the extension service.
"Throughout the year we have had a number of different variety trial tours at different farms across the county. We've covered wheat, cotton and soybeans, and for the first time, this year we covered corn. The programs allow area farmers to find out about different types of seed that they can use and they can find out about the productivity of the seed first hand by visiting a crop in a field. We also hold meetings and have different experts come in to talk to area farmers," Holmes said.
Audience members were also updated on the status of county 4-H programs by Robyn Pipkin.
"4-H is a wonderful program that works with area children on a variety of things. The children are involved in public speaking programs and programs on leadership and gun safety. They also are involved with the different camps held by 4-H each year. We had a number of children compete in the different regional and state competitions, and the program just really helps build confidence for the children," Pipkin said.
Mary Flynn was also on hand to update those in attendance on the success of the Extension Service's Family and Consumer Services in St. Francis County.
Jan Haven with the Service's Executive Committee, served as emcee for the event and spoke briefly on the work and assistance the program gives to St. Francis Countians.
"I've been around farming for all of my life, so I've been involved with the Extension Service in one way or another for all of my life, and they have always been there to help the area farmers. Their programs give farmers new ideas and introduce new technology. The 4-H program does wonderful work for our children," Haven said.