A powerful tornado tore through Arkansas over St. Patrick's Day weekend, striking homes already battered by a separate twister less than a year ago. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-2 tornado, packing 125 mph winds, ravaged Paragould, the Greene County Office of Emergency Management reported.
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Remarkably, this tornado hit a neighborhood still scarred from an EF-1 twister that struck Sandwedge Drive last Memorial Day weekend. The New York Post and Fox Weather documented that earlier storm. For the Drope family, history repeated itself. Their home, damaged in May 2024, took another heavy blow in March 2025.
Misty Drope recalled the eerie calm before the latest storm. "There's a silence that happens before a strong storm hits you," she told Good Morning America on March 17. "I said, 'Oh no, this is not good.'"
The family braced for impact. Fortunately, they found safety in a corner of the house that escaped the worst destruction.
Arkansas Hit Hard
Keely Drope marveled at their luck. "It literally looks like God just had his hand right there over us," she told GMA. "That's the only part that has the roof left." Outside, the toll was steep. CBS affiliate WREG-TV reported over 160 homes in Paragould suffered major damage on Friday. Yet, no lives were lost. Mayor Josh Agee said only a handful of people sustained minor injuries.
"We had property damage only," Agee said on March 16. "The Good Lord was watching over the City of Paragould last night."
The weekend outbreak was relentless. FOX Weather tracked nearly 90 tornadoes across the Midwest and Southeast from Friday to Sunday. The storms claimed over 40 lives, according to NBC News and ABC News. Arkansas reported three deaths, while North Carolina saw two. Alabama mourned three, Oklahoma four, and Texas four. Mississippi lost six, Kansas eight, and Missouri 12.
For Paragould, the latest tornado tested resilience forged by last year's twister. The Dropes and their neighbors now face recovery once again, leaning on faith and community to rebuild.
