Johnson County, Arkansas

This tornado moved through Clarksville, causing extensive damage at the country club and to businesses and residences on the south and east sides of town. Initially, the entire city of Clarksville was without electricity. About 70% of electric customers had power restored by the end of the day on the 25th, but the hardest-hit areas lacked power for a week. In Clarksville, the tornado took a similar path to that of a tornado which occurred on April 7, 1980. After leaving Clarksville, the tornado moved off to the northeast passing between Strawberry and Chronister Store. A 65 year-old man was killed in the area of the Strawberry community when the tornado destroyed a small house on a goat farm. Altogether, at least 150 residences in Johnson County were damaged or destroyed. The tornado continued moving to the northeast, moving into the Ozark National Forest. Many trees were blown down, blocking roads in the forest. The tornado exited Johnson County south-southeast of Dillen and entered Pope County south-southwest of Bertha.

This is the sixth and final segment of a six-segment tornado. (The first, third, and fifth segments occurred in Franklin County in the Tulsa County Warning Area.) The tornado moved out of Franklin County north of Alix and entered Johnson County northwest of Coal Hill. In Johnson County, the tornado first moved through the Centerpoint community, knocking down trees in the cemetery and badly damaging several residences. The tornado next moved on to the Bethlehem community, where several mobile homes were destroyed and some additional residences were damaged. A 31 year-old woman in one of the mobile homes was killed and approximately 11 other people were injured. The tornado next moved on to Harmony, damaging additional residences, barns, chicken houses, and outbuildings, before continuing into the Ozark National Forest. Damage also occurred near Ozone before the tornado lifted farther to the northeast in the forest. Altogether, at least 65 residences were damaged or destroyed in Johnson County.

Flooding on Spadra Creek and Horsehead Creek caused roads to be flooded and culverts washed out. Numerous streets were flooded in Clarksville, as was U.S. Highway 64 around Hartman and Coal Hill. Around 9:20 PM CDT, a washout on a railroad track caused a train derailment in the Coal Hill Bottoms, south of Coal Hill. Nineteen hopper cars carrying soybeans were derailed, spilling the beans and tearing up a section of track. Mudslides occurred on Interstate 40 southwest of Hunt, on Arkansas Highway 103 in the Batson Mountain vicinity, and on a road north of Catalpa. Eight houses were flooded in the western part of the county. Cattle had to be rescued from flooding at the Dirty Creek Bridge on Arkansas Highway 164. Numerous county roads were flooded in the area west of Arkansas Highway 21. Several water rescues were necessary.