Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin and state Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-District 87) toured the parts of Siloam Springs hit hardest by the tornadoes and high winds on Oct. 21.
Siloam Springs City Administrator Phillip Patterson led the tour Wednesday afternoon, which also included Mayor John Mark Turner, Ben Gilmore, deputy chief of staff and media coordinator for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and representatives from the media.
The group toured the devastation at Country Acres Estates where downed trees littered the streets and power lines hung ominously. Griffin noted that a number of trees were uprooted from the rocks where they were embedded in the 3200 block of S. White Oak Street.
"Well clearly the storm was of some significant magnitude to move a tree that size, to uproot a tree that size," Griffin said. "Those roots were not embedded in soil alone, they were embedded in deep rock.
"You can see the power here and it's not just one or two, there are a number of trees, probably a dozen right here on this one property. All significant size oaks are now completely uprooted out of rock. I know this is just the tip of the property damage. When we were coming in here we saw a number of people still dealing with power lines down and that is an additional hazard.
"There are literally power lines from here where I am now, going out a mile back toward the main road and some people you can see have made some makeshift support for their power lines. So, the more quickly we can address this the quicker we can get people back to normal or at least some semblance of normal.
"There's a lot of damage here, but we are fortunate we didn't have more human lives at risk because the power that it took to lift these trees and bring them to the ground can definitely be dangerous to humans."
The officials also toured three homes in Country Acres before heading out to the Siloam Springs Regional Airport. There, the damage could be seen in the downed power lines and one airplane hangar that appeared to be shredded by the tornado.
After speaking with a few people, including former state Rep. Jonathan Barnett, who owned some of the hangars at the airport, Griffin returned to Little Rock.
General News on 10/24/2019