Maj. Doug Wood: 'Not One House Was Standing'

The Arkansas Wing of Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is assisting in the response to the devastating and deadly tornadoes that struck central Arkansas Sunday evening.

Civil Air Patrol has been tasked by the State of Arkansas with taking aerial video and still photography of the hardest-hit areas and currently has eight aircraft participating in the effort. Flights are being coordinated from a mission base set up at CAP headquarters at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.

The flights are being concentrated over the towns of Ferndale in Pulaski County, and Mayflower and Vilonia in Faulkner County. Maj. Doug Wood, Arkansas Wing administrator, said the view from above showed widespread damage. Of one subdivision in Vilonia, he commented, “Not one house was standing. Everything else was just flattened.”

Capt. John Bowden of the wing’s 42nd Composite Squadron in Little Rock said, “It looks like the houses and buildings just exploded. All that is left if a flat foundation with scattered sticks all around.”

On Wednesday morning, at the request of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CAP aircrews will photograph the entire tornado track – from Ferndale to Mount Vernon.

FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com