Alright, it's time for Part Three. The tornado reached extreme intensity, well beyond the EF5 range as it began to rip through subdivisions southwest of Vilonia. Although the EF4+ damage contour of the tornado at this stage was not wide, it was very well-defined and extremely dense. Crossing the path of the 2014 Tornado, the tornado struck several homes along Cody Drive, leaving nothing behind but bare slabs from most of them. Two young boys lost their lives here and their parents were seriously injured. The Damage Assessment Toolkit stated that cars were thrown over 100 yards away from these homes. The ground nearby was also scoured. A home just northeast of here was also completely slabbed and wind-rowed a long distance away.
A side view of the homes along Cody Lane. The home where the boys perished is third from top. Notice how all the debris is wind-rowed and tossed far away, indicative of an extremely high-end tornado.
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An aerial view of the slabbed home just northeast of Cody Lane
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Four homes were destroyed along Rocky Point road before the tornado crossed a highway at maximum strength, slabbing two more homes just north of the highway. A mid-aged woman was killed in one of these homes.
An aerial of the homes just north of the highway. The woman perished in the slabbed home just to the right of the highway.
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As the tornado bore down on Vilonia, it hit a newly built school, which was set to open that fall. Needless to say, it did not open on schedule. The tornado caused the outer-bearing walls to collapse inwards, causing major structural failure of the building. Tim Marshall said that the only safe place for students would have been inside the hallways. The tornado barely missed some baseball and sports fields northeast of the school, where debris was strewn all over the place.
The destroyed remains of the school northeast of Vilonia.
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The tornado became extremely catastrophic in strength as it hit downtown Vilonia. On the southern end of Main Street, one of, at least according to Tim Marshall's damage survey of the event, most incredible feats of tornado damage occurred. A tank that weighed 30,000 pounds was thrown "1192 meters," which is equal to about 3,910 feet, before coming to a rest along the tornado centerline. A Dollar General on the south side of street was totally obliterated and nearly pulled off of its foundation completely. The Vilonia Shopping Center took a direct hit and was completely destroyed and structurally compromised. Trees nearby sustained complete debarking.
The Dollar General that was nearly pulled off of its foundation
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The structurally comprised Vilonia Shopping Center
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On the northern side of the road, a swath of particularly extreme tornado damage commenced. A car dealership was totally obliterated, and cars that were at the dealership at the time were thrown and strewn across a field northeast of there. Several homes were completely destroyed in this area as well, killing a couple in one of them. A restaurant located in the field was swept away with little trace and hasn't been rebuilt as of today. Major ground scouring and total debarking of all vegetation took place in the EF5 swath at this location.
Little was left of the car dealership after it sustained a direct hit from the tornado
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Very little was left of the restaurant that was leveled.
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The sons of the couple killed in downtown Vilonia standing near the destroyed home of their parents.
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Northeast of here, the home of David Mallory was slabbed. Mr. Mallory was aware that the tornado was coming, as his brother had called him, but the tornado was just too strong. It left a clean foundation behind and tossed Mr. Mallory's prized 1950s Chevy a long distance into a tree, where it lay a useless scrap of iron. Major tree debarking and ground scouring occurred near Mr. Mallory's home as well.
The destroyed remains of Mr. Mallory's home
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Unfortunately, I am only able to attach 10 files per post, so it looks like we will have to see part four. The damage that will be highlighted in part four will be of extraordinary severity and is among the most violent tornado damage I've ever seen.