HAMPTON, Ark. (KATV) — At about 5 a.m. Friday morning, a severe thunderstorm hit the city of Hampton, resulting in multiple homes being destroyed, power lines down, roof damage, elementary school roof damage, and the destruction of local businesses.
According to Hampton city officials, there have been no reports of any injuries or causalities from the storm damage.
Well I woke up at 5 o’clock and went to the bathroom and my lights flickered and I thought ‘dang, my power’s going to go off,'” said local Janette Goolsby. “And so I went back to go to bed and I heard something in the living room and water was dripping. So, I went to the living room and saw a leak, so I went and got me a couple of bowls to put under the leak and I looked up and thought ‘Gosh something’s happened, it’s water coming down’ so I went to get my flashlights and I noticed it was pouring out and I opened the front door and there was a tree. I slept through the whole thing, I didn’t even know it happened.
Goolsby’s home was severely damaged, with a full-grown tree downed and completely covering half of the home.
It was unbelievable, it was still dark, but I could tell coming into town that it was bad and a lot of trees down, things happening, and when I got here, we had to come in the other way,” said Amy Goolsby, Janette’s daughter. “I’m just glad she’s okay.
According to Matt Scarbrough, the superintendent for the Hampton School District, they plan to have school back and running as soon as Tuesday, January 16.
It had quite a bit of damage in town, it had quite a bit of damage here on campus, did a lot of damage to our elementary roof, we’ve got people on site now helping us get that fixed,” said Scarbrough. “We’re working through, we had a gas leak, we’re working with our plumber, our gas company, getting that worked on. Just everybody pulling together trying to get us back to where we can have school.
The Governor’s Office, Secretary of Education, contacted Hampton Elementary to offer services they could provide for the city.
Hampton city officials say the sirens never went off in the city due to it being a severe thunderstorm rather than a potential tornado.
