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Monster Tornado Rips Apart Little Rock — 600 Injured

A monster tornado has ripped apart Arkansas capital Little Rock, just a week after more than two dozen deadly twisters tore through Mississippi and parts of Alabama killing at least 26.

Footage of the ferocious weather system was filmed from the 7th floor of the Little Rock Baptist Medical Center. The person filming could be heard gasping at the massive swirling twister.

On Friday evening, a local area hospital reported treating at least 21 patients with 5 in critical condition. All had injuries from the tornado that touched down in the Little Rock area.

The tornado splintering homes, overturned vehicles and tossed trees and debris onto roads as people raced for shelter.

A man, who appeared unaware of the vortex, was filmed standing on the roof of another building as the powerful tornado – which reportedly reached level 3 or ‘mass casualty’ strength – travelled towards him.

Another video in the wake of the massive system revealed debris scattered in the streets of Little Rock, which is just three-hours north west of Rolling Fork, where deadly storms hit last week.

There were two more confirmed twisters in Iowa, damaging hail fell in Illinois and wind-whipped grass fires blazed in Oklahoma, part of a massive storm system threatening a broad swath of the country that is home to some 85 million people in the South and Midwest.

According to the Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services at least 600 people were injured although no casualties have been recorded as yet. Meanwhile, a second tornado has been spotted forming in Des Moines.

The destructive weather continued for hundreds of miles. In the tiny town of Wynne, 100 miles east of Little Rock, the police chief described it as ‘dozens’ being trapped with ‘total destruction all over town.

More than 350,000 people were at risk as what the National Weather Service called a ‘confirmed large and destructive tornado’ tore through business districts and neighborhoods in Little Rock and North Little Rock.

The Little Rock tornado tore first through neighborhoods in the western part of the city and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock was operating at a mass casualty level, spokesperson Leslie Taylor said. Several people had already been transported to the medical center, but an exact count was not immediately available.

Mark Hulsey, a special projects manager for Pulaski County, which includes Little Rock, said at least one person was in critical condition.

Resident Niki Scott took cover in the bathroom after her husband called to say a tornado was headed her way. She could hear glass shattering as the tornado roared past, and emerged afterward to find that her house was one of the few on her street that didn’t have a tree fall on it.

‘It’s just like everyone says. It got really quiet, then it got really loud,’ Scott said afterward, as chainsaws roared and sirens blared in the area.

The Little Rock Fire Department reported heavy damage and debris in western Little Rock and said firefighters had carried out rescue operations in the area.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and said there was ‘significant damage’ in the central part of the state.

‘Praying for all those who were and remain in the path of this storm,’ she tweeted. ‘Arkansans must continue to stay weather aware as storms are continuing to move through.’

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced that he was requesting assistance from the National Guard.

‘Please stay off the roads and away from the affected areas to allow emergency responders to work,’ Scott tweeted.

Outside a Little Rock Guitar Center, five people were captured on video aiming their phones at the swirling sky. ‘Uh, no, that´s an actual tornado, y´all. It´s coming this way,’ Red Padilla, a singer and songwriter in the band Red and the Revelers, said in the video.

Padilla said that he and five bandmates sheltered inside the store for around 15 minutes with over a dozen others while the tornado passed. The power went out, and they used the flashlights on their phones to see.

‘It was real tense,’ Padilla said.

At Clinton National Airport, passengers and workers sheltered temporarily in bathrooms.

The Little Rock Fire Department reported heavy damage and debris in the western end of the city.

Firefighters were performing rescue operations in the area, the department said on its Facebook page. Other details were not immediately available.

Passengers and airport employees at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock took shelter in bathrooms and were ordered to stay there until 3:45pm.

Aerial footage showed several rooftops were torn from homes in Little Rock and nearby Benton. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Nearly 70,000 customers in Arkansas were out of power on Friday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages.

About 32,000 were without power in neighboring Oklahoma, where where wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph fueled fast-moving grass fires.

People were urged to evacuate homes in far northeast Oklahoma City, and troopers shut down portions of Interstate 35 near the suburb of Edmond.

More outages were reported in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

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