Arkansas storm chaser reflects on March 31 tornado
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Believe it or not, when severe weather strikes, some people are outside chasing it.
Scott Hollinger is a storm chaser and has seen 52 tornados. When the tornado ripped through central Arkansas on Mar. 31, 2023, he was at work. He didn’t get to chase that storm but feels that if he did, he would easily rank it in his top three.
“You can see the width of it here and the damage it did. As bad as it is, it still could have been a whole lot worse,” he said looking at the trees damaged by the tornado in Burns Park.
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Hollinger has chased tornados from Arkansas to Colorado, but he said part of the reason Mar. 31 would rank high on his list is because it’s home.
“As fascinating to me as they are, on the other side of it, I’ve done a lot of search and rescue and that hits hard, watching people that lost everything they had.”
As a storm chaser, Hollinger said it can be exciting, adrenaline-inducing and devastating all at once.
“I know they’re deadly, but the weather is absolutely fascinating,” he said.
Hollinger said his only injury while chasing tornados was when he was struck by lightning and lost partial hearing.
“This is for real. You’re not immune to any of this,” he warned. “You can get hurt doing this.”
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Hollinger said one of the worst things you can do is go out storm-chasing by yourself and not with someone with experience, especially if it’s your first time.
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