Storms Arkansas

Tens of thousands of people shivered without heat again Friday, nearly a week after a Christmas ice storm devastated parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. From 750,000 to as many as 1 million people--at least a quarter of Arkansas' population--lost power after the storm, Gov. Mike Huckabee said as he looked at street after street littered with splintered, ice-caked trees. About 135,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark Friday. "We've never had a storm like this," Huckabee said.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes downed power lines and damaged homes and buildings Saturday in Texas and Arkansas, where authorities said several people were injured. To the north, ice-covered roads resulted in dozens of wrecks. A truck that skidded off a highway in Rock County, Wis., overturned, killing the driver. Tornadoes touched down in several places in central Arkansas late in the afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Ira Akins, 75, a College Station, Ark.

On Sunday, while Monica S. Lewinsky met in Washington with the House members prosecuting President Clinton in the Senate, the president was in the small Arkansas town of Beebe. And so was Paula Corbin Jones. He had flown to Little Rock and then to Beebe to examine damage caused by deadly tornadoes that hit Thursday.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was among the thousands in the state whose homes lost power after a Christmas Day ice storm, urged residents to be patient as the lights slowly came back on. Huckabee told state lawmakers in a conference call that he believed the storm was the worst in state history. About 46,000 Arkansas homes and businesses remained without electricity. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to about 315,000 Arkansas customers.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was among the thousands in the state whose homes lost power after a Christmas Day ice storm, urged residents to be patient as the lights slowly came back on. Huckabee told state lawmakers in a conference call that he believed the storm was the worst in state history. About 46,000 Arkansas homes and businesses remained without electricity. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to about 315,000 Arkansas customers.

New waves of powerful thunderstorms with winds up to 64 m.p.h. battered already flooded parts of Arkansas on Monday, knocking out power to thousands of homes and aggravating the misery from weekend flash floods that turned streets into roiling rivers. In southeastern Texas, storm clouds threatened to dump more water into the Trinity River, already 10 miles wide in places. Overflow from the Trinity already has swamped about 4,600 homes, and many of them will remain under water for weeks.

The fifth blizzard of the season socked North Dakota with fierce wind and blinding snow, while snow and ice storms in the Midwest shut down highways and sent thousands of students home early. Icy conditions in Arkansas led to four deaths, including that of an 80-year-old man who fell while getting the newspaper and three killed in car accidents, and persuaded Ku Klux Klan members to postpone a rally this weekend.

Thunderstorms and tornadoes damaged homes and downed trees and power lines in northern Arkansas Saturday, injuring at least one person. Five people died in traffic accidents. A tornado touched down near Leachville, in the northeast corner of Arkansas, Arkansas State Police said. At least one person was injured, authorities said. The heavy rain also prompted flood warnings and stranded several campers, canoeists and kayakers along the rapidly flowing Buffalo National River.

There it was, big as the cloudless sky: Air Force One thundering over houses without roofs, cars without windows, trees scattered on the ground like a game of pickup sticks. And the people of this modest, devastated neighborhood were waiting. "This is President Clinton's community," declared the Rev. Hezekiah D. Stewart Jr., watching as the presidential plane headed toward a landing at Little Rock, Ark.

The Ouachita River raged downstream in Arkansas on Wednesday, and the Trinity River crested 6 feet above flood stage in southeast Texas as flooding continued to plague the region. The rain-engorged Ouachita, which flooded Arkadelphia earlier, was advancing on Camden, where the crest was expected to arrive today at 12 feet above flood stage, the National Weather Service said.

Tens of thousands of people shivered without heat again Friday, nearly a week after a Christmas ice storm devastated parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. From 750,000 to as many as 1 million people--at least a quarter of Arkansas' population--lost power after the storm, Gov. Mike Huckabee said as he looked at street after street littered with splintered, ice-caked trees. About 135,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark Friday. "We've never had a storm like this," Huckabee said.

Thunderstorms and tornadoes damaged homes and downed trees and power lines in northern Arkansas Saturday, injuring at least one person. Five people died in traffic accidents. A tornado touched down near Leachville, in the northeast corner of Arkansas, Arkansas State Police said. At least one person was injured, authorities said. The heavy rain also prompted flood warnings and stranded several campers, canoeists and kayakers along the rapidly flowing Buffalo National River.

On Sunday, while Monica S. Lewinsky met in Washington with the House members prosecuting President Clinton in the Senate, the president was in the small Arkansas town of Beebe. And so was Paula Corbin Jones. He had flown to Little Rock and then to Beebe to examine damage caused by deadly tornadoes that hit Thursday.

There it was, big as the cloudless sky: Air Force One thundering over houses without roofs, cars without windows, trees scattered on the ground like a game of pickup sticks. And the people of this modest, devastated neighborhood were waiting. "This is President Clinton's community," declared the Rev. Hezekiah D. Stewart Jr., watching as the presidential plane headed toward a landing at Little Rock, Ark.

Nicholas Word was standing on his front porch when the tornado struck, smashing his tiny wood-frame house off its foundation and hurling him and the wreckage into his neighbor's yard. "When I woke up, there was just rubble--rubble and fog," Word said Sunday amid the devastation of Saturday's killer storms. "All I can tell you is, it's the worst sound that you'd ever want to hear in your life. But I guess I cheated death."

The fifth blizzard of the season socked North Dakota with fierce wind and blinding snow, while snow and ice storms in the Midwest shut down highways and sent thousands of students home early. Icy conditions in Arkansas led to four deaths, including that of an 80-year-old man who fell while getting the newspaper and three killed in car accidents, and persuaded Ku Klux Klan members to postpone a rally this weekend.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes downed power lines and damaged homes and buildings Saturday in Texas and Arkansas, where authorities said several people were injured. To the north, ice-covered roads resulted in dozens of wrecks. A truck that skidded off a highway in Rock County, Wis., overturned, killing the driver. Tornadoes touched down in several places in central Arkansas late in the afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Ira Akins, 75, a College Station, Ark.

Nicholas Word was standing on his front porch when the tornado struck, smashing his tiny wood-frame house off its foundation and hurling him and the wreckage into his neighbor's yard. "When I woke up, there was just rubble--rubble and fog," Word said Sunday amid the devastation of Saturday's killer storms. "All I can tell you is, it's the worst sound that you'd ever want to hear in your life. But I guess I cheated death."

Tornadoes ripped through Kansas and Oklahoma on Friday, killing at least 28 people, authorities said. Andover, a small town outside Wichita, was the hardest hit. A twister that damaged 500 homes there killed at least 22 people, Andover Mayor Jack Finlason told reporters. "The southeast part of town, especially the mobile home park, is completely leveled," the mayor said. "The injuries are too numerous at this point to assess." Two deaths were reported in Wichita and one near Winfield, Kan.

The Ouachita River raged downstream in Arkansas on Wednesday, and the Trinity River crested 6 feet above flood stage in southeast Texas as flooding continued to plague the region. The rain-engorged Ouachita, which flooded Arkadelphia earlier, was advancing on Camden, where the crest was expected to arrive today at 12 feet above flood stage, the National Weather Service said.