MONETTE, Ark. — A state of emergency has been issued after the roof collapsed on a nursing home with people inside the building, killing one person. Craighead County Judge Marvin Day told The Associated Press that a tornado struck the Monette Manor nursing home in Arkansas at about 8:15 p.m.
Day initially told ABC 24 that there were two confirmed deaths, but AP cited Day early Saturday morning in reporting that the number had been revised to one person killed.
Within two hours, the building had been cleared and everyone initially believed to have been inside had been accounted for, Day said.
“It looks like it’s pretty much destroyed,” Day said of the building. “... It happens quick but apparently there was a little bit of time with tornado sirens going off.” Some residents were found in the basement “and were prepared for this,” he said.
Five people had serious injuries, and a few others had minor ones, he said. The nursing home has 86 beds.
Day said another nursing home about 20 miles away in Truman was badly damaged but no injuries were reported. The residents were being evacuated because the building is unsafe.