Arkansas

At least 7 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region

Published

2 years ago

May 26, 2024

At least 7 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region

AUSTIN, Texas – Powerful storms killed at least seven people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.

Five of the deaths were in Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado Saturday night plowed through a rural area near a mobile home park, officials said. Storms also caused damage in Oklahoma, where guests at an outdoor wedding were injured. Tens of thousands of residents were without power across the region.

“It’s just a trail of debris left. The devastation is pretty severe,” Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told The Associated Press.

Officials said multiple people were transported to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in the Texas county of Denton, but they did not immediately know the full extent of the injuries. Sappington said the dead in Texas included three family members who were found in one home near the small community of Valley View.

At least one person was killed in Arkansas in Benton County, according to Melody Kwok, a county communications director. She said multiple other people were injured and that emergency workers were still responding to calls.

“We are still on search and rescue right now,” she said. “This is a very active situation.”

The destruction continued a grim month of deadly severe weather in the nation’s midsection.

Tornadoes in Iowa this week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. The deadly twisters have spawned during a historically bad season for tornadoes, at a time when climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country.

In Texas, a tornado crossed into Denton County, north of Dallas, overturning tractor-trailers and halting traffic on Interstate 35, county spokesperson Dawn Cobb said. A shelter was opened in the rural town of Sanger.

Sappington said at least 60 to 80 people were inside a highway truck stop, some of them seeking shelter, when the storm barreled through, but there were no serious injuries.

Daybreak began to reveal the full scope of the devastation. Aerial footage showed dozens of damaged homes, including many without roofs and others reduced to rubble.

Residents woke up to overturned cars and collapsed garages. Some residents could be seen pacing around and sorting through scraps of wood, assessing the damage. Nearby, neighbors sat on the foundation of a wrecked home.

At the height of the storms, more than 24,000 homes and businesses lost power in Oklahoma, according to the state Office of Emergency Management. The agency also reported extensive damage from baseball-sized hail and multiple injuries at an outdoor wedding that was being held in rural Woods County.

Meteorologists and authorities issued urgent warnings to seek cover as the storms marched across the region overnight. “If you are in the path of this storm take cover now!” the National Weather Service office in Norman posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In Texas, the Denton Fire Department posted on social media that emergency crews near Dallas were responding to a marina “for multiple victims, some reported trapped.” Inaccessible roads and downed power lines in Oklahoma also led officials in the town of Claremore, near Tulsa, to announce on social media that the city was “shut down” due to the damage.

April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Iowa was hit hard last week, when a deadly twister devastated Greenfield. Other storms brought flooding and wind damage elsewhere in the state.

The system causing the latest severe weather was expected to move east over the rest of the Memorial Day weekend, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday in Indiana and more severe storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.

The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.

___

Tareen reported from Chicago, and McCormack reported from Concord, N.H.

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Arkansas

#24 Arkansas Explodes for Eight Runs in Eighth to Race past Missouri State in Midweek Rematch

Published

4 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

#24 Arkansas Explodes for Eight Runs in Eighth to Race past Missouri State in Midweek Rematch

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 24 Arkansas (27-15) used an eight-run eighth inning, punctuated by home runs from Ryder Helfrick and TJ Pompey, to race past Missouri State (26-12) in a 12-4 win Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With their win in the rematch against the Bears, the Razorbacks improved to 9-2 in midweek games, including a 7-1 mark in midweek matchups at home, this season. Arkansas will conclude its midweek slate next week with a double midweek series against Northwestern State from April 28-29 inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium.

Entering the bottom of the eighth tied at four, the Hogs exploded for eight runs on seven hits, including four extra-base hits, to blow the game open. Carter Rutenbar’s go-ahead two-run single through the right side put Arkansas up 6-4 and set the table for Camden Kozeal’s RBI double, Helfrick’s three-run blast and Pompey’s two-run shot later in the frame.

When the bottom of the eighth was all said and done, the Razorbacks had opened a commanding 12-4 lead after they were shut out through the game’s first five innings. Kozeal finished the night 3-for-5 with a double, home run and two RBI to lead Arkansas offensively and raise his season slash line to .305/.394/.604 with 11 homers and a team-high 48 RBI.

Helfrick, meanwhile, swatted his team-leading 14th home run in Tuesday night’s win against the Bears. The Razorbacks’ superstar catcher is now slashing .293/.430/.626 with 14 homers and 40 RBI through his 41 games played this season.

In addition to Kozeal, Nolan Souza (3-for-5), Reese Robinett (2-for-5, 2B) and Kuhio Aloy (2-for-4, RB) logged multi-hit games. Along with Helfrick and Kozeal, Rutenbar (1-for-4, 2 RBI) and Pompey (1-for-1, HR, RBI) tallied multiple RBI.

On the mound, Tate McGuire made his third start of the season for Arkansas and worked 3.2 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts. In relief, Colin Fisher (3.1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 SO), Steele Eaves (0.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO), Parker Coil (0.2 IP) and Cooper Dossett (1.0 IP, 2 SO) combined for 5.1 innings of two-run ball (one earned) with eight strikeouts to seal the win.

Up next, the Hogs will hit the road for an SEC weekend series from April 23-25 in Columbia, Mo. First pitch in the series opener between Arkansas and Missouri (20-21) is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, on SEC Network.

For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).

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Arkansas

Effort to cut former Arkansas corrections secretary’s position as adviser to governor fails – Arkansas Times

Published

16 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Effort to cut former Arkansas corrections secretary’s position as adviser to governor fails – Arkansas Times

A legislative panel rejected a proposal Tuesday that would have eliminated former Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri’s job as an adviser to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

A top lawmaker also suggested that Profiri may return to his job overseeing the state prison system, two years after he was fired by the state Board of Corrections as part of a dispute with Sanders.

The proposal rejected by the Joint Budget Committee’s personnel subcommittee would have written into the appropriation for Sanders’ office language eliminating Profiri’s position from the Republican governor’s staff. Subcommittee members voted 9-6 against the amendment, with Rep. Lane Jean not casting a vote.

Republican Sen. Terry Rice introduced the proposal last week, a little over six months after Profiri didn’t appear at a hearing on the now-stalled Franklin County prison project before a committee that Rice co-chairs.

Rice called this a “major trust-breaker.”

“The Board of Corrections members asked Mr. Profiri to share his intended plans as secretary, and they would work with him. He ignored multiple attempts,” Rice said. “I was told during that meeting, he was in the Capitol, had been seen in the hall at the same time. He didn’t even reply and chose to snub legislators’ questions.”

Profiri was fired by the Arkansas Board of Corrections as the leader of the state’s prison agency in 2024, following months of increasing tensions between the constitutionally-independent board and Sanders over opening new beds when the Department of Corrections already struggled to find sufficient staffing. Those tensions eventually resulted in lawsuits, which are still unresolved, and Profiri’s firing.

After he was fired, the Republican governor hired Profiri as a senior advisor, making him the highest paid staffer in her office. Profiri is paid $183,699.98 a year, according to the Arkansas transparency portal.

Jean, a Republican from Magnolia who co-chairs the Joint Budget Committee, asked Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson and Board of Corrections member Lee Watson “what the timeline was” for Sanders to rehire Profiri as corrections secretary, pointing to the new makeup of the board.

“I don’t think there’s any objection to the board, or certainly a majority of the board, to hire him (again). What are we waiting on?” Jean asked.

“What I can say is Secretary (Lindsay) Wallace, she is the secretary, and she will continue as secretary until the governor decides she’s not secretary,” Hudson said. “In the interim, (Profiri) continues to do his job as an adviser to the governor.”

The ongoing lawsuit between the Board of Corrections and Sanders centers on who has the authority to fire the corrections secretary. A Pulaski County Circuit Court judge ruled last year that the board does. Sanders appealed the ruling.

The board’s new Sanders-appointed majority voted to accept a settlement agreement accepting her position that she is the one with firing authority earlier this month, though the lower court order remains in force until the Arkansas Supreme Court rules on the matter.

Sam Dubke, Sanders’ spokesperson, referred the Advocate to Hudson’s remarks when asked for comment on whether Profiri would be rehired as corrections secretary.

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Arkansas

TST Images: Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, in Tulsa

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

TST Images: Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, in Tulsa

TULSA, Okla –The Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, on April 19, 2026 at ONEOK Field and The Sporting Tribune’s Robert Sloter was there to capture the following TST Images.

Luke Fox #15 of the Tulsa Drillers throws a pitch during a game against the Arkansas Travelers at ONEOK Field on April 19, 2026 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.