Vilonia, Ark., Looks 'Like It Has Been Hit With an Atomic Bomb'

The damage wrought by Sunday's tornado in Vilonia, Arkansas, destroyed so many landmarks that long-time residents were left puzzled by where they were, a storm chaser said.

Greg Johnson arrived in the town near Little Rock just hours after the twister - one of 31 across the Plains and South - turned communities to matchsticks Sunday.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

From his initial assessment Johnson said the damage appeared consistent with an EF4 or EF5 strength tornado, the two highest categories.

"To give you an idea of what's left of the town, when we pulled up last night we had people who had been living here for years coming up to us and asking, 'Do you know what street we are on?'" said Johnson, who has been chasing storms for a decade.

"This tornado left behind no visible landmarks in some areas and people just did not know where they were."

He added: "When you see photos of nuclear bomb explosions and the total destruction they cause, what we are seeing in areas here is certainly comparable to that. It's like it has been hit with an atomic bomb - totally flattened."

Johnson said the tornado appeared to be worse than one which hit the town three years ago to the week, on April 24, 2011, and killed four people. That twister was an EF2.

Two factors that made the damage in Vilonia particularly bad this time, he said, were that the twister struck the town after dark, and the town's shape.

"While tornadoes do cause damage along a path, this town is a long, thin type of town built mainly along one road. This appears to be the rough path along which the tornado traveled."

Based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Johnson has been chasing storms for 10 years at tornadohunter.com.