Northwest Arkansas Tornado Destroys Chicken Houses, Threatens Cattle
By: Marissa Stevens, KNWA-TV, Fayetteville
Updated: January 31, 2013
Many folks are still picking up the pieces after a tornado caused a lot of damage in Elkins on Tuesday.
"The electricity went off and then almost at the same time a piece of metal hit the house. Things were swirling around and I realized that it was a tornado," says Lloyd Stith.
Tuesday's storm caught him by surprise.
"I thought, man it's going to get me. I fell out of the chair and crawled across the bedroom, down the hall and into the bathroom," he explains.
Winds ripped apart his chicken houses and the flying metal threatened his cattle across 200 acres.
"That would have really affected our income quite a bit if our cattle had been hurt. It's something we could have lived through, but it would not have been pleasant," Stith says.
Once the swirling debris settled, Stith surveyed the damage and jumped into action.
"Everybody started showing up with chainsaws and started helping me get trees off the fences and rebuilding fences to hold the cattle in," he says.
But now he feels bad about the mess of mangled metal.
"My chicken houses are in everybody's yard in Elkins it seems like," says Stith.
So, cleanup started early Wednesday morning.
"When the chicken hlouses blew down it broke the water lines, so we were without water last night. I was up at 3 o'clock this morning trying to find the water leaks and get them repaired," he says.
And facing the aftermath, Stith is just grateful his family is safe and his livelihood is still intact.
"We were just very fortunate. With all that metal flying around, anything could have happened," he says.
Stith has lived in Elkins since 1991, and said Tuesday's storm was the worst he had ever seen. Thankfully, there have not been chickens in the houses for a few years. He said they have been holding hay, so it will be a challenge to get it out. The chicken houses are a total loss, so Stith is planning to disassemble them and haul off the materials.
Click here to watch this report.
Continuing Coverage:
Storm Rips Through Elkins
"The electricity went off and then almost at the same time a piece of metal hit the house. Things were swirling around and I realized that it was a tornado," says Lloyd Stith.
Tuesday's storm caught him by surprise.
"I thought, man it's going to get me. I fell out of the chair and crawled across the bedroom, down the hall and into the bathroom," he explains.
Winds ripped apart his chicken houses and the flying metal threatened his cattle across 200 acres.
"That would have really affected our income quite a bit if our cattle had been hurt. It's something we could have lived through, but it would not have been pleasant," Stith says.
Once the swirling debris settled, Stith surveyed the damage and jumped into action.
"Everybody started showing up with chainsaws and started helping me get trees off the fences and rebuilding fences to hold the cattle in," he says.
But now he feels bad about the mess of mangled metal.
"My chicken houses are in everybody's yard in Elkins it seems like," says Stith.
So, cleanup started early Wednesday morning.
"When the chicken hlouses blew down it broke the water lines, so we were without water last night. I was up at 3 o'clock this morning trying to find the water leaks and get them repaired," he says.
And facing the aftermath, Stith is just grateful his family is safe and his livelihood is still intact.
"We were just very fortunate. With all that metal flying around, anything could have happened," he says.
Stith has lived in Elkins since 1991, and said Tuesday's storm was the worst he had ever seen. Thankfully, there have not been chickens in the houses for a few years. He said they have been holding hay, so it will be a challenge to get it out. The chicken houses are a total loss, so Stith is planning to disassemble them and haul off the materials.
Click here to watch this report.
Continuing Coverage:
Storm Rips Through Elkins
