Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – March 15, 2025 – Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms hit Arkansas hard on Friday night as a deep low-pressure system moving through Kansas and Missouri pulled an area of instability through Arkansas.
One storm containing a tornado tracked from Northwest of Mountain View across Melbourne, Ash Flat and into Randolph County. Storm damage was reported in the Ash Flat community through Cherokee Village, into Hardy and Ravenden Springs. That same storm caused extensive damage and at least one fatality at Poplar Bluff, MO.
A second storm formed west of Batesville and struck the Cave City community. Mayor Jonas Anderson declared a “state of emergency” in Cave City and announced a “dusk to dawn curfew” until further notice. He said there is damage and destruction throughout the city. A cell phone tower was destroyed limiting communication. At least five were injured, three taken to the hospital according to Anderson. (Update 1:45pm Saturday: Three deaths have been reported in Independence County by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. It is not known yet where those fatalities occurred.) There was damage reported South of Pocahontas as the storm tracked Northeast. An ammonia leak at the PECO Foods plant forced authorities to stop traffic on Highway 67.
Another storm tracked from Jackson County across Bono in Craighead County eventually touching down in Paragould. Damage was reported in Diaz, Jacksonport and Campbell Station. In Paragould the storm caused damage in the same neighborhood struck by a Memorial Day weekend tornado last May. Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder described the damage as devastating again along Pruett’s Chapel Road and specifically the Enclave subdivision. He said he had heard of several injuries, at least one described as “serious.” Snyder said first responders were doing search and rescue operations immediately after the storm. There was also damage reported in the downtown area of Paragould.
Only minor wind and hail damage was reported in Jonesboro despite two separate warned storms that targeted the Jonesboro metro. Tornado sirens were sounded several times as one storm passed just to the West of Jonesboro and another across South and East sections of the city.
Power outages are widespread across areas that suffered damage. Craighead Electric reported over 2,000 customers without power across its system centered mostly in the Western part of its service area. Entergy Arkansas reported thousands without power across the state with over 3,000 without power in Cave City alone. Jonesboro City Water and Light was still reporting 150 customers without power Saturday morning mostly in the Valley View area.
Showers and thunderstorms were reforming across Southwest Arkansas and moving Northeast Saturday morning. The National Weather Service said severe weather is possible across some of the same areas again during the middle of the day before the storms are expected to slide East causing an outbreak across Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia later today.