Major storm damage reported in Inspiration Point and Holiday Island

Carroll County Emergency Management Coordinator Nick Samac said there was major damage from either a tornado or strong storm that went through at about 1:30 a.m. April 26 causing extensive damage in the Inspiration Point area, Wolf Ridge, Elk Ranch and the entrance to Holiday Island.

“I contacted the National Weather Services out of Tulsa and sent some photos,” Samac said. “They were going to compare photographs with radar imagery and send someone to help determine if it got an EF class or if it was straight line winds.”

Samac said Wolf Ridge was hit pretty hard with a lot of trees and power lines down. There were trees on some houses and carports.

“County Club Drive and the main entrance of Holiday Island got hit pretty hard, as did Elk Ranch,” Samac said. “Wolf Ridge looked pretty rough. It appeared some tornadic activity went down. Ozark Automotive Road had damage to the fence surrounding the storage units and some homes down there had trees all over the place.”

Carroll Electric has several power crews working on the trees and powerlines right now.

Delnita Foust said it looked like a bomb dropped on Wolf Ridge.

““We have a lot of damage,” Foust said. “One family, the ambulance couldn’t even get to their house if it was needed. A tree fell on their propane tank and ripped up the propane line so their generator doesn’t work, and a man who lives there is on oxygen. A man who just got his cabin done has trees across his house and car.”

Foust said it is the first time in her life she has seen this kind of damage.

“It happened in just milliseconds, but that sound really is like a freight train,” Foust said. “All the neighbors were helping neighbors the way it is supposed to be.”

Other Wolf Ridge residents who reported the freight train sound included Jenny Amussen and Chryl Hoyt, who were out with chain saws the next day clearing trees from their driveway.

Another Wolf Ridge resident, Kurtz Miller, suffered some damage to his car, but said he feels lucky with the large number of trees down in his front yard that he didn’t get a tree fall on his house. Miller said power lines were down along at least a half mile of Wolf Ridge.

“There used to be a canopy above the road,” Miller said. “It has gone away.”

Lynn McKenzie, a resident of Wolf Ridge for 12 years, had some of the worst building damage with two trees that fell on his garage. “It was worse damage than Hurricane Ike,” McKenzie said.  

Holiday Island had a lot trees down, but no major damage to buildings. John Prange, superintendent of the Holiday Island Golf Course, said there are about 50 trees down, most near the clubhouse.

Trees are down all over the place at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, said Executive Director Kelly McDonough. She said they were fortunate no buildings were damaged, but had to move a painting class because of the lack of power. Inn of the Ozarks is providing space for the relocated class.

Nancy Plagge, spokeswoman for Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. (CECC), said the storm blew through fast from Avoca to Blue Eye in about 30 minutes. System-wide there were about 3,000 accounts without power after the storm.

“We know of about 45 broken poles (10 are in the Wolf Ridge area) and expect to find more as areas become accessible,” Plagge said. “We have had to get assistance from the counties and contractors to clear trees from roadways and private drives.”

Plagge said they found it very difficult to get access into some areas because of ground saturation and flooding. External contractors and crews from surrounding utilities are being contacted to receive additional help for restoration. We continue to assess areas to determine the extent of the damage.”

Plagge said ground saturation is severe, which is resulting in trees from outside the right-of-way easements falling on the power lines.

“Many of these areas have recently been cleared with internal right-of-way crews,” Plagge said. “It could have been much worse! Some members will need to make arrangements for tonight as we don’t expect to restore all services until late tomorrow.”

More rain is in the weekend forecast.