BENTON — When a tornado swept up Elisa Smith's mobile home and sent it crashing down on her son's home next door, she squatted down inside a closet, jostling around until it passed.
She walked away from the Hurricane Lake Mobile Home Park with little more than a sore hip. Her daughter was safe at a friend's house. And she has decent insurance coverage for her home and her son's, which are now joined together in one big pile of contorted rubble.
So a hug from Saline County's emergency management assistant director and a quick chat with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials who toured the county on Monday is all the government intervention she will need to get back on her feet, she said.
Satellite images of the flood damage can be viewed here.
If her insurance pays out the way she hopes, she'll finally be able to move from a mobile home park to a house.
"I always wanted a new home," Smith, 47, said as she picked through the rubble looking for pieces of her late mother's shattered china and belongings that soothe her 23-year-old daughter who has Down's syndrome.
But for an untold number of people in Arkansas whose roofs were blown away, or who went to bed after the storms passed only to find water pouring into their living rooms when the downpour started, FEMA's first visit to Saline County in the aftermath of last Thursday's storms is a relief.
FEMA damage assessment teams are scheduled to visit several counties in coming days.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service confirmedMonday four more tornadoes, bringing the total count from Thursday to 10. Eight of the tornadoes, which struck Saline, Pulaski and Lonoke counties, were all produced by one parent storm. The ninth and 10th, which struck Hot Spring and Garland counties, were part of a later storm.
The damage from two of the tornadoes confirmed Monday in Pulaski County stretched from east of Gravel Ridge to north of the Jacksonville area.
One of the tornadoes started about a half-mile east of Gravel Ridge and was on the ground for 0.7 mile, ending one mile east-northeast of Gravel Ridge. It toppled trees, including one that fell on a house and one that fell on a mobile home.
On the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the tornado was classified as an EF1, the second-lowest rating on a scale that rates tornadoes from EF0 to EF5. EF1 tornadoes have winds of 86 to 110 mph.
The other Pulaski County tornado started 2.6 miles north of Jacksonville on the east side of the Little Rock Air Force Base and ended 3.8 miles north-northeast of Jacksonville. The tornado, which was also rated as an EF1, was on the ground for 1.9 miles. It knocked down trees and a billboard, the weather service said.
John Lewis, a senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said the parent storm spawned multiple tornadoes that formed and then dissipated.
"That's not unusual," Lewis said.
One of the tornadoes in Hot Spring County started 4.1 miles northwest of Bismarck and ended 5.1 miles north-northeast of the city. It was on the ground for 4.2 miles and was rated an EF1.
The other tornado in Hot Spring and Garland counties began 7.6 miles east of Lake Hamilton and ended 3.2 miles west-southwest of Jones Mill. The EF1 tornado downed hundreds of trees over a 1.7-mile path.
In Little Rock, Entergy crews worked in Little Rock's Leawood neighborhood to fully restore power for 140 residences.
Power was restored to North Little Rock Electric Department customers by 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
A few customers remained without electricity because of damage to their homes that must be repaired before crews can restore power, said Joe Gertsch, general manager of the utility.
Public Works crews - including 15 crews with a total of 65 workers in Little Rock - stayed busy Monday picking up debris. By Monday afternoon, Little Rock crews had transported 514 tons of mostly logs and tree branches since Friday, said Ronny Loe, assistant director of Little Rock Public Works.
"We'll do this for the next two weeks," Loe said. "If we have rain for the next two or three days, it will take longer."
North Little Rock crews will also be picking up debris throughout the week. Two to three crews will continue the work until it is done, said Harold Ford, North Little Rock sanitation director.
In Saline County, two FEMA assessors walked throughstorm-damaged neighborhoods in Saline County with clipboards in hand, taking note of the destruction. They asked residents if they have insurance, helping gauge how much government aid is needed.
Counties can qualify for individual assistance funds, which means residents who are uninsured or underinsured can get up to $28,800 to help rebuild. Government entities can also qualify for money to help rebuild roads, pay for overtime and other costs incurred as a result of a disaster.
Gov. Mike Beebe has declared Arkansas, Garland, Saline, Pulaski, Lonoke, Pike and St. Francis counties disaster areas because of last week's storms. The action, which increased the number of counties declared disaster areas to 46, will be included in the governor's previous request for federal disaster assistance relatedto recent flooding.
"That saves some time," said Jamilah Fraser, a spokesman for FEMA who visited Saline County on Monday. But she said it's unknown how long it will take officials to determine if any counties will qualify for federal aide to help cover costs from last week's storms.
Arkansas, Pages 9, 12 on 04/08/2008