Powerful storms leave damage, outages in AR town
MARIANNA, Ark. — A series of powerful storms left a trail of damage in Marianna, Arkansas.
Workers at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Marianna are cleaning up after Wednesday’s storm caused heavy damage while store employees took cover.
“We come out, part of the roof was gone,” employee Miranda Stanbery said. “Ceiling tiles were gone. We have water in the building. Products are damaged. We just started cleaning up.”
The storm, which hit around 1 p.m., left widespread power outages and trees down all over town. More than one tree crashed into Robert Hibbler’s home, leaving the wheelchair-bound man in a pile of debris.
“It mostly took all the shingles off and then the rain came through on my sheetrock and then my sheetrock fell in,” Hibbler said.
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Many here expected Wednesday’s storm to cause problems, and it did, including an unusually high amount of water flooding streets, yards, and businesses.
“It was flooded. People were getting stuck and it was real bad, and I was scared because I was here alone,” Shamika Hansberry said.
Some residents watched helplessly as the water inched higher.
“Within less than 10 or 15 minutes it was up,” Bettie Lemon said. “It was so high in my yard, my whole yard was like a river. A little bit longer and I would have had to have a boat.”
Marianna’s police chief says he believes straight-line winds are responsible for the damage. No injuries were reported.
Crews from Entergy and other utilities are working to fully restore power.
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