Enough is enough

Well, as promised, I've got some pictures from some of the carnage around the county today. Not much else to say, other than the fact that the damage out in SW Centerton was absolutely the worst I saw anywhere. If there were house-to-house neighborhoods out there, we'd be talking about several hundred homes completely destroyed. The winds were much worse out there, and there was no hop, skip and jump like we had in Bentonville. The twister set down on the ground and didn't lift up for a mile or two. If that'd happened in Bentonville, we wouldn't be talking about just 8 homes destroyed.

Governor Huckabee made a flight to the Bentonville airport this afternoon, greeting a buttload of media and a whole bunch of Benton County Admin folks as he toured the destruction in Centerton. In 2 hours, he managed to visit two houses, partially because of the constant interviewing of the TV folks, the distance between the houses, but also because the Governor is such a darn nice guy that he was genuinely visiting with some of the affected people at each house, fairly oblivious to the "photo op". Just like the fiveforty constantly reminds us, Gov. Huckabee is a damm fine individual who might/should be our next president. I wish everyone could have heard him visiting with these folks, offering some comfort with some humor and levity not far behind. Just an all-around good guy.

This is a house between Bentonville and Little Flock along Central Avenue. Just around the corner from the 8 Bentonville houses that got so creamed.


Home along Tycoon Road in Centerton close to the worst damage in the county. This boy was asleep in bed with his mom when the roof came off and debris fell on them, waking them up as they ran for a closet.


This is where they were sleeping...


Bentonville Municipal Airport. The steel is the remains of a hangar....that was made of steel in case you didn't catch that.


Apparently, they don't have the benefit of a 24-7 guard courtesy of the police like the 8 houses in Bentonville do.


Same trailer where the mom and kid were.


This was the home of Mykel Stephens and his family. He, his wife, their 4 kids and two relatives escaped certain death by hiding in a closet under the stairs. You can't really see it from this photo, but if they had been anywhere else, they might have been in trouble. I'll see if I can dig up a better photo that shows the closet. Oh yeah, and if you look closely in the tree, you can see part of the baby's crib from the second floor of the house.


Ah yes, there we go. The closet door is the second door from the right. 8 folks. Second floor and half of the first floor gone. Good thing they weren't outside the front door admiring the view.


That's all I got right now. And it's been a long day, so peace out.

read more: centerton, tornado, photos