In past years, Chikin Melele has reported on increasing severe weather events and what to know to be prepared: Climate Adaptation – Tornadoes. This year in the U.S., there have been more severe storms and tornadoes than in the last 10 years, with more than 1,000 tornado reports so far this year. Across 13 states, severe storms and tornadoes wreaked havoc over the Memorial Day weekend. There were almost 100 tornadoes reported over the weekend killing at least 22 people. The number of total tornado reports on Memorial Day since the start of the year was 1,008 exceeding the historical average of 731.
Long-range forecasts earlier this year had predicted that May would bring an increase in severe weather. A forecast that has turned out to be true. The strongest tornado to hit the United States this year, a monstrous twister with 185-mph winds, destroyed much of Greenfield, Iowa, on May 21, 2024. The EF4 tornado in Iowa resulted in 5 deaths and 35 injuries. So far this year, Iowa leads the country in tornado reports by state with 98. Texas is second, with 96.
A tornado outbreak last weekend, May 25-26, resulted in the deaths of 26 people in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama. Northwest Arkansas was hit hard by tornadoes early Sunday morning with downtown Rogers being one of the hard hit areas. The Rogers tornado touched down from 1:46 am to 2:00 am, running a 1.5 mile wide path for 7.4 miles right through Rogers. With 115 to 125 mph winds, hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged and destroyed. Thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted. Officials confirmed that the severe weather killed 8 people in Arkansas (1 person in Boone County, 1 in Baxter County, 3 in Benton County, and 3 in Marion County). The National Weather System confirmed a total of 7 tornadoes touched down in NWA, including Rogers, War Eagle and Clifty. Extreme straight line winds also extended for several miles south of the tornado track.
The EF3 tornado that hit Rogers on May 26 effectively ended the school year early. Following the Memorial Day weekend, classes were scheduled from Tuesday through Thursday (May 28-30) with a teacher workday on Friday, May 31. Rogers Public Schools requested three emergency days from the Arkansas Department of Education due to significant damage caused by the early Sunday morning storms. The school cancellations effectively concluded the school year a week early.
The recent tornadoes in Northwest Arkansas have displaced over 40 Marshallese families without home, food and essentials. The Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese has relocated families into temporary lodging but they are currently raising funds to extend their temporary stay. In addition to housing needs, families are in need of clothing, toiletries, and hot meals. As part of the recovery effort, AenEmmaan, a Marshallese men’s organization, has been assisting in repairing and clearing debris and trees. You can contribute to ACOM’s Support Marshallese Families Tornado Fundraiser which will be open from May 29 to June 14 for donations.
The long-lasting impact from severe weather events in NWA is not far from the collective memory of the Marshallese community. Families continued to live in below standard housing damaged by the tornado that touched down in Springdale at the end of March in 2022. ACOM posting photos to Facebook of the damage and cleanup wrote: “We hope that President Biden will expedite the process of declaring a state of emergency. We have many families in need of federal aid. We hope that this will not be a repeat of events where we are left to struggle silently and/or die.”