Jonesboro Tornado - KAIT-TV Coverage (March 28, 2020)

A tornado went through parts of Jonesboro, Arkansas on March 28, 2020. It could be seen causing damage from KAIT-TV's station cameras.
*All audiovisual rights belong to Gray Television.

[@ToallpointsWest]

And THIS is why you have LOCAL broadcasters!! They know EXACTLY where everything is relative to the threat!

[@poohssmartbrother1146]

I agree, I was trying to follow on google maps as they commentated. once i found road names, they were on the ball

[@jasonwatson9961]

I live forty miles from Jonesboro. Lived here all my life and I can tell you, we are truly blessed to have Ryan Vaughn and his Storm team watching the skies for us.

[@creepybunny255]

@@jasonwatson9961 yes we are. And it's sad to see so many app-bandits who act like they know it all and talk crap about him / them. Oh well. We shouldn't care.

[@billnythehighestguy690]

Arkansas is 20 years behind mentally and in general it seems. I moved here. Im leaving these people morons

[@jasonwatson9961]

Billy, I'm sure Arkansas won't miss you. Toodles!

[@dalethelander3781]

I missed Reed Timmer screaming "VIOLENT TORNADO ON THE GROUND!"

[@ksexidrew]

Favorite comment🤣

[@dpflack1744]

Stay safe out there during the covid 19 ok 👌 and always wear a face mask 😷 ok

[@C0MRAD_NAp_B0ULE]

Where the hell is the receipt for 2020? Somebody needs to return this year, ASAP.

[@boardman49]

Charles Smith If 2020 is any indication, I think we should skip the entire decade.

[@jacklebergshecklestein9359]

Charles Smith I think we lost it at around late 2019

[@braylonnugent22]

this an average day for any town or big city in tornado alley

[@jacklebergshecklestein9359]

Braylon Nugent you right

[@JH-cy7rk]

Charles Smith yeah there haven’t been deadly tornados in the past

[@ClothyCentral]

the guy in the background saying "let's not talk over each other" as he keeps interrupting and snapping his fingers!

[@kristinabalentine4109]

Kon. M Guy in the background is the chief meteorologist at the station. I’m sure he had an excellent reason for what he was doing

[@zeus982]

He absolutely needed to say that. That lady had no business saying anything during the broadcast

[@kristinabalentine4109]

@Jason Rush I thought that is what I was doing, but if you see it otherwise, that's okay, too.

[@iamranndizzle3204]

There was a delay in their mics. Ryan was at home during this.

[@savannahsterrett7274]

DON'T MESS WITH OUR WEATHER LORD

[@mandsandsonsracingandfabri2136]

This shows why you are supposed to take cover when they say to because of how fast a tornado can form and become violent !! Excellent coverage and reporting from all the KAIT crew you guys have done a great job and Ryan you have been a great asset to the team since you were the young skinny kid years ago when you 1st started with KAIT and I commend you !! Prayers go out from my family for all that were affected by this storm !

[@Darksagan]

Zach was doing his thing really didnt need a second person talking over him. lol That nado was nuts..and it went right over the freeway. Crazy

[@dpflack1744]

Stay safe out there during the Covid 19 ok 👌 and always wear A face mask 😷 in public ok and I have a Question for have you ever seen a tornado 🌪 in person I’m just wondering ok 👌

[@Darksagan]

@@dpflack1744 No I live in Cali we dont have anything like that and I would have moved if we did lol.

[@savannahrose4447]

I was driving out of Jonesboro during this. Freaked me out. I barely missed it.

[@katedryer4488]

So glad you made it out, Savannah.

[@ebtv38]

Glad you're ok

[@freddyplaysgamesandmuchmor7285]

Glad you made it. I live in tornado alley and sadly we didnt have any tornadoes in my area yet. Hate to say I have bad PTSD from storms like this, but I'm glad you are alive and safe

[@redmustangredmustang]

The best part if there is one is that no one died.

[@warrenduree9417]

Top notch coverage for a small market station. This rivals some of the major market station tornado coverage. Excellent work.

[@carlmay9532]

If it wasn’t for the glory hound that kept interrupting poor Zack, it would have been perfect.

[@LizGirlBoss]

I live at Sage Meadows… it frightens me to just hear this again even now, 3 years later. I have a 5 page paper to write about on this. That’s why I’m here watching again 😢 Thank God we were safe!🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@katedryer4488]

KAIT - you saved lives!

[@kurtwayne1672]

To this station's credit, they went wall-to-wall coverage on this when the first tornado hit a sparsely populated area a county to the southwest about 1/2 hour previous. Even though it wasn't tornado-warned when it crossed into Craighead County (where Jonesboro is) they did the best they could to warn people to go ahead and take cover. Then they switched to this camera (from radar) about 3-5 minutes before this video begins, when you could see just the wall cloud rotating and updrafts boiling on the (camera) left side of it. I would not be surprised if they, too, helped save many lives along with the social distancing that kept people out of the devastated mall there.

[@TheDude1764]

Kurt Wayne Yes, they absolutely did...my mother had less than 10 minutes to take cover in her home thanks to this coverage. 👍

[@kurtwayne1672]

@@TheDude1764 When the Armador (sic?) tornado of earlier today lifted, the chief meteorologist here (off camera but we hear his voice) said he was worried that this storm was "cycling" and about to produce another. Even though Craighead County wasn't tornado warned he was doing his best to tell people to get ready to take cover immediately. (They have to watch how they do things so people don't think they're just crying "wolf".) I told another person that watching the as-yet-twister-less wall cloud come ever nearer to the city while everyone practically held their breath in the 3-5 minutes of footage prior to this clip was like watching the impending execution of an innocent person.

[@jaybaxx]

I live on Farrville curve where I was told I was going to be a direct hit from this monster. it was less than a quarter of a mile from my house and sounded like pure Hell itself. the sheer rage and intensity of the tornado couldn’t have been exaggerated. that thing was moving SO FAST. these guys did such a wonderful job and Jonesboro-Brookland-Paragould got really good warnings.

[@queenthatalwaysshouldvebee8760]

c y n t h i a yeah it was the worse sound ever. A monster.

[@jaybaxx]

Reagan Weatherford absolutely. I still have nightmares. today they tested the tornado sirens and I freaked the hell out.

[@queenthatalwaysshouldvebee8760]

c y n t h i a I feel yah. Couldn’t sleep night. Had flashback of being in the closet with my boys hearing that monster not knowing if it was going to hit us. Thinking I’m helpless to save my kids. Started crying uncontrollably tonight. I guess I’ve been running on adrenaline the past week. I left Jonesboro as soon as 49 opened since we didn’t have all our services restored. Plus, I just had to get out of there you know. Staying with my mom, but headed home tomorrow.

[@mistydawn5061]

It went from a skinny rope to a wedge

[@cashonly6117]

I saw that too. Damn thing just exploded.

[@creepybunny255]

Yeup, I watched it live on their app as it was happening and it grew rapidly.

[@billnythehighestguy690]

My ex made me do that too

[@march71988]

It ate so much in so Lil time

[@mistydawn5061]

@@billnythehighestguy690 eww

[@billionbillion4463]

My house is barely off screen in the NEA Baptist cam footage. I was home in the basement and the wind was really howling. According to the tornado path, I was less than 1 mile from where it ripped through. No damage to my home or immediate neighbors. Citywide curfew is enforced by the National Guard so a block up the road might be devestated for all I know. My home power has been out until just now and this is the first footage I have seen.

[@litlredhen]

@billion billion -- Glad if you & your neighbors were ok! I'm in Hilltop & it just missed that neighborhood! I was just curious, you mentioned having a basement. I'm from the north where pretty much everyone has a basement, but I thought they're kind of uncommon in the south, due to the soil content or water table (?) or something. Do you know if many houses in Jonesboro or the nearby area have basements, or how common it is (or isn't)?

[@potatopirate5557]

"I see cars driving right towards it. I don't understand." You and me both, buddy. 😳

[@janeilnold5863]

6:05 that car on the road just pulled a big NOPE and turned around.

[@brettholland7040]

😂😂😂

[@LillaVya]

Honestly that was a safe move

[@phoenixfire8226]

Man it looked like it passed right over that busy throughfare, can't believe nobody was killed. Very fortunate.

[@kevinjoyce285]

This is one of the best tower cam footages, aside from CBS 33/40 on April 27. This camera really captured the size of this thing, and caught debris being flung around as well

[@xijinping4418]

I wish KZbin would quit reminding me this happened.

[@Mebo4001]

They saved many lives. The warning wasn’t still active but they stayed with the storm. His directions got my family in our safe spot. Tornado sirens did not go off until it was on the ground! He kept saying it will drop down and there will not be any time to warn you- so take cover. Watched their live feed in the tub! They were phenomenal . They - along with people not being in the busiest part of our city due to corona safety measures saved so many lives. This could have been so much worse!

[@Mebo4001]

XxOceanCottonxX It is not our local weather team who sounds the tornado warning. The sirens go off when a tornado is spotted. All we had was a huge wall cloud, but our experienced weather team used their experience and what they were seeing in real time on cameras - not weather scans- that proved to be invaluable! We are so grateful for them. No blame against anyone- and yes - they saved many lives by staying with the storm!

[@bradh6185]

Hard to believe there are no fatalities.

[@crysiscore2051]

Thank you for commenting that. Definitely helped me feel better about watching this. Still horrible.

[@Auroralights321]

It was a miracle.

[@Auroralights321]

@TheHumanity! Where's your source for this? :(

[@bradh6185]

@TheHumanity! 22 injuries. 0 deaths.

[@creepybunny255]

@TheHumanity! No there weren't. Good gawd.

[@charlielempelsndergaard548]

My boyfriend lives in Jonesboro and I don't so I had to just wait and see if he would get crushed. Terrifying

[@RockinRob69]

*That thing got HUGE......fast!*

[@freddyplaysgamesandmuchmor7285]

From the look of it it seems to be an EF5, when I traveled to Illinois to see my family who lives down there, the sky was just different colors and it was so warm. So we went to eat without knowing that there would be a tornado coming from that day. So when we got to the restaurant, we ordered our food and I knew something wasn't right, I mean the sky just looked so deadly. So I got up and went to the bathroom within seconds the lights at the restaurant went out and my mom asked the "waiter " what the protocol was for storms like this. He said "I don't know let me call my manager" and thank God that the manager was there because within seconds he got on the microphone and yelled "everyone into the walk in cooler, it's about to break hell"!!. So my mom got me out of the bathroom and all of us went into the walk in cooler and within seconds of being in the walk in cooler you could hear the roof being ripped off, the walls were starting to give away (so the staff went upstairs and got blankets they use for keeping food warm to protect everyone and other things to pass the time like coloring pages for the kids, I began to pray to God that we would all make it out safely). After I prayed you could see water was starting to seep through the light bulb and onto the floor where my family was located. Thank god that we all survived it but when we were giving the okay to come out of the cooler it looked like a war zone, everything was just gone...we didn't even have to pay for dinner that night no one did, they just wanted us home. After that my family ran to our van and it was impossible to do because it was knee deep. As soon as we got back to my grandma's house they issued another tornado watch for her area. The next day when everything was "normal" the weather service said that it was an EF5 tornado that touched down, this happened 4 or 5 years ago..now I have PTSD because of tornadoes..and storms.

[@dpflack1744]

Omg that a huge tornado 🌪 Stay safe out there from the covid 19 ok 👌

[@litlredhen]

@@freddyplaysgamesandmuchmor7285 Sorry you had to go through that, hope you're doing better. What part of Illinois was it? I lived in the Chicago area until 2016.

[@freddyplaysgamesandmuchmor7285]

@@litlredhen I'm not sure.

[@Barefoot0Walker]

the broadcast may sound confused, but that’s to be expected in such situations. i think they did a fine job during the crisis.

[@2xRjayy]

That went from tiny to a half mile wide in seconds

[@dpflack1744]

Stay safe out there during the covid 19 ok 👌

[@13_cmi]

Yeah. I'm surprised this tornado didn't get more attention from all the storm guys. Tornadoes like this are super rare.

[@FilmLabs]

I well tell you that is one of the most crazy tornado shots I have ever seen!

[@BlackHayateTheThird]

@5:58 when they're telling the cars going southbound to stop immediately some cars did. Dunno if this station also acts as a radio station or what, but I'm so glad some of those cars got the message and turned around

[@fuzzface8252]

The local radio station group (there's like 4 or 5 radio stations they own) will always play the audio from KAIT during bad storms/tornadoes.

[@queenthatalwaysshouldvebee8760]

Yes 101.9 Fox was covering live on the radio they said

[@creepybunny255]

Fuzz has it right. They're very close here, in fact one of our old meteorologist at least USED to own (may still own) some of the radio stations here (Trey Stafford) he was great as well. Kait8 has great people here, always has.

[@queenthatalwaysshouldvebee8760]

I survived this. Live right by the airport off airport road in the subdivision where the trail derailed. It happened so fast and our electric went out we didn’t know where it was. Hardly had time to seek shelter when I heard the worse sound of my life.

[@tbkulavik]

Had a 2nd home in Jonesboro area about 10 miles north in Brookland. Had our closing at that Regions Bank Building. Very familar with all the locations that the reporters mentioned. Shopped at that Ace Hardware across from the NEA Baptist Hospital many times, went to the grocery store at Hilltop. Prayers to everyone on Crawley’s Ridge from Indiana. Great coverage KAIT8. Terry Wood would have bee proud.

[@cnh3109]

That shit nearly hit my house it was scary as all hell!! Never ever heard anything like it and it dropped down behind where my parents were. Now whenever it storms my older sister panicks because it gave her PTSD. Now it's hard for me to watch any other tornado video except for this one. Because I was there.

[@setdrift]

understand completely. I'm from Paragould. I still remember the one that hit Jonesboro back in the 70's. its a terrible experience

[@StiX-66]

Same here man. Crazy the mall got wiped out with no fatalities

[@Teagan_Hughes]

I still remember this from 2 years ago remember seeing it pass through the town where i live and it was insane how quickly it grew, everything that the tornado directly passed over got completely destroyed

[@boardman49]

It’s like watching Cullman and Tuscaloosa all over again. The violent motion in this tornado is very similar.

[@jandaniel1682]

Way to go weather team!! You all did great and saved lives! And don’t let anyone criticize any of you. Also, we all know there has to be a leader in situations!

[@creepybunny255]

Thanks Jan. Great to see others appreciating the team here. We're all pretty defensive of our Kait8 folks. Great people.

[@jamesdylan5041]

Even though no one died watching this still makes me wanna vomit

[@ZacharyHankins]

Crazy to see Jonesboro get so much attention. I made business deliveries to Camfil, and sadly they lost a lot in this incident. No one lost their lives though, so that's amazing.

[@xijinping4418]

After seeing what it did to some of the businesses here, I guess we have the whole quarantine thing to thank for that. Things could have gone very differently.

[@ZacharyHankins]

@@xijinping4418 Absolutely. It's weird to say that COVID helped save people, but I believe it did, especially with the Mall being closed.

[@paigeupchurch6746]

The winds carried Kirkland bags into Paragould AR

[@brittney1047]

Paige Upchurch o heard about that, that tells how powerful the tornado was

[@shorelinemafiaiglives9750]

Paige Upchurch my job (aldi) in Jonesboro, our sign was found in brookland

[@keith.wilson1981]

Oh my word! Unbelievable - devastating

[@CCRider-if7mw]

Unbelievable. Fantastic job, guys. Praying for everyone in your area.

[@cuddzilla]

The tornado went right through where I grew up on Prospect Rd.

[@Evanwilliams27]

0:22 omg he looks too happy lol

[@elassawipo]

I live 8 years thank God never seen one tornado this is awful my prayers for all people over there.

[@funkman98]

Good work from the news team. Very helpful and informative for people to follow.

[@janeilnold5863]

That has to be so heartbreaking to do news coverage of a situation like this as it's happening...watching your town get ravaged and all you can do it watch and try your best to warn people. So scary!

[@shiannemcpherson1836]

Jonesboro is notorious for tornadoes, I have no idea why people still live there honestly 😅 My dad and his family were almost killed when he was 5

[@3starperfectdeer233]

"Its an extremely healthy storm" *Torando in background. Growing and fucking shit up*

[@Utbark1]

That's freaking huge and scary! Prayers up! 🙏🙏🙏

[@Sammonoske]

This jumped over my friends house. So thankful her and her family were left untouched.

[@melissaabercrombie3767]

Thank you for posting this. I hope everyone is safe and there are no fatalities. This is one huge tornado. Amazing that they captured it being born. Y’all are in my prayers❤️ It’s going to be in my area from about 2 am-6 am.

[@chrisdabeast5331]

No fatalities but 6 minor injuries

[@melissaabercrombie3767]

Chrisda Beast, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for giving me an update!

[@kenzself98]

I was in Bono when this happened and we were so lucky we didn’t get hit. Our sirens never went off and the only reason we knew anything that was happening was because I heard the sirens out my window from Jonesboro and my best friend and in laws called me. This whole situation was so scary especially with me being pregnant. I’m glad everyone was okay 😣

[@billnythehighestguy690]

Dont get pregnant and dont live in tornado alley then lol

[@billnythehighestguy690]

Name the kid Twister.

[@noah_collins2]

It looks like it maybe thinned some while it was going over that highway.

[@gjsterp]

Sir Sandwich noticed that too!

[@iamranndizzle3204]

@@gjsterp Size of it dosnt mean how strong it is

[@noah_collins2]

@@iamranndizzle3204 Yes that is true. A pretty large tornado came through Kentucky on Saturday it was only a EF-1

[@scottb9704]

Great job by this guy.. imagine going to work like a normal day and then trying to save lives. Crazy

[@we.r.wine.bottles.im.at.work.]

This is incredible!!!

[@LetustheDragon]

watching that beast cross that freeway scared me.

[@addleighscuties2232]

It almost hit my house

[@snakearchr]

I'm still sick from seeing it on my tv.

[@marzx6782]

This tornado changed my WHOLE life.

[@derrickhale2023]

1968, 1973, and now 2020 it would tragically seem...

[@ebtv38]

I pray that everyone is ok!

[@thevarietyshowuncut4914]

16 minor injuries and 0 deaths

[@heavenlee1965]

I watched this drop live and it hit 1 street over from my apt. We were in our bathrooms praying.

[@KandyKoRner]

Lived through a few similar to this in Shawnee Kansas hahaha, that tornado alarm was constantly wailing this was a regular occurrence there.

[@fakenewsmindcontrol1508]

Yup,I grew up in lenexa

[@johnachee4043]

Thankfully, I'd die of a stroke before that thing reached me.

[@DPImageCapturing]

I like how that all of the destruction around there, the Ad in the top left is Stadium Autobody!!

[@shaneletson]

It's really really bad when u can't even watch your TV anymore or listen to your radio n your ride because it plays all advertisements

[@Nonconformistwilderbeastman]

A Storm just came through Memphis no tornadoes though thank God

[@mattk6371]

He’s not Dick Gilbert. Or James Spann. But he did the best he could.

[@jaybaxx]

Jim Brooks there’s no reason for you to compare him to them.

[@other2494]

I followed this tornado on radar and I never seen so much debris coming from a tornado

[@isox2024]

Thank You Jesus for not hurting Brookland

[@amandagrayer9182]

this was my bday i didnt know this happened but goodbye 2020 welcome 2021

[@roygould9454]

News people can barely contain their glee at catching this live.

[@jasonl9904]

Watched this happen live

[@kurtwayne1672]

Me, too. KAIT TV did an absolutely incredible job on this.

[@THEJEREMYPARKE]

Same.

[@jenjennitrite8146]

Wow

[@THEJEREMYPARKE]

I was almost got caught in the middle of it too.

[@emilynorman116]

This was the day before my birthday

[@markarmstrong9795]

The kait team are always awesome I'll remember that day forever it was like a mile from my place if it wasn't for covid the mall would've been packed

[@VIDSOFPK]

That thing got violent fast holy shit

[@CyberianWind]

My daughter was by the mall when it hit. Unhurt but really shaken up.

[@melissaabercrombie3767]

Cyberian Wind I am glad to hear that! I can only imagine how scared she was. God Bless❤️

[@CyberianWind]

@@melissaabercrombie3767 Thank you. I don't think she's ever going to forget this one. She's always been scared of storms since she was a toddler.

[@Test21Test]

Man Tornado's are fucking crazy. So so lucky we don't get them in Australia

[@captainmorgan757]

What's with the periodic finger snapping sound?

[@thelocalfbi7140]

I remember what I was doing when this happened lol. I was talking to my buddies on discord and suddenly I hear the sirens, pretty scary.

[@sgtbassmaster3129]

Ryan is like lets not talk over each other guys. But he's the one talking over them lol.Like they had it under control Ryan. all you had to do was stay at home and shut it.

[@dpflack1744]

I love ❤️ tornadoes 🌪 videos and I hope 🤞 those people are ok 👌 during the tornado 🌪 warning ⚠️ in 2020

[@bp33562]

That is huge and scary

[@truehearted2295]

GREAT coverage! Zack makes a really good window. You really need to spend $10 for a pointer.

[@poohssmartbrother1146]

Reminds me of Moore, OK or Tuscaloosa, AL.

[@thnktank1]

Enterprise High School!😥

[@Freakingbean]

I was on Ada street in Paragould and we were getting hit with debris. This thing has to have been as strong f2 or and f3.

[@alanogle4873]

There has got to be a tornado emergency,

[@MissLexiMarie]

This is absolutely astonishing. Does anyone have more video of this news coverage?

[@creepybunny255]

My brother took a great video from the overpass in town. Just search for "jonesboro tornado" and it should be one of the top videos. There's a lady who has a fishing channel who used his footage, I think there's a few others as well that used his footage. There's also a video from an arab sounding guy at a mobile phone store who's got great footage of it eating Gateway tire.

[@NoOne-dv6de]

My bestfriends older brother was working in best buy when this happened-

[@jedijc5411]

This Curve Stomps the West Memphis Dec. 1989 Tornado....

[@dwatsondds]

I live in Jonesboro this was very scary

[@AlexTheRailfan]

I live there too, and I’m worried about my dad, he almost got hit by the tornado just 400 ft away

[@GaliSinatra]

Dude, why are you standing right in front of the tornado?

[@TakiMomoify]

This is so fucking scary. I live in tornado alley as well, but fortunately I’ve never experienced one before (not yet, and hopefully not any time soon, God willing). I’m so glad no one got hurt, this is a nightmare.

[@kaidynisbeast1987]

U see the vertices of the tornado looks really bad

[@OceanSpritePixieBobs]

Prayers for all in these areas .

[@TheGuruStud]

Yeah, send worthless prayers, dumb dumb.

[@jakedavis2954]

TheGuruStud exactly people should wake up to this madness and actually do something if they care

[@Nascarfan-ir8nv]

The news guy in the background that keeps saying the areas of the track sounds exactly like my high school principal

[@GevoGenesis92]

That escalated fast 😐

[@millerc-0599]

I live in McCrory Arkansas rip jonesboro

[@alexcross3286]

This would make for such a great video if it weren’t for the guy in the background constantly interrupting. And the 30 seconds of snapping his fingers? Wtf was that for?

[@kasauro123]

what was the category of the tornado ? F 4?

[@DavidVideosify]

EF3

[@cashonly6117]

What happened? Did it go into Paragould or Marmaduke?

[@jasonl9904]

Started in Jackson county then dissipated. Reformed near Valley View. Went right through SE J'boro. Went just east of Paragould. Haven't heard anything out of Marmaduke. Was still on the ground when it crossed the MO line.

[@cashonly6117]

@@jasonl9904 Thanks.

[@cashonly6117]

@@jasonl9904 I just heard there were 3 out near marmaduke, tore up a building when it crossed hwy 412. Don't know of anything else, that was from a family member.

[@madqtofficial3451]

It's weird because the violent tornadoes were predicted for the Midwest but this happened in NW Arkansas so I think it caught several people by surprise but I'm glad people were warned and hopefully took shelter

[@rs-xf9im]

No we have them as bad as anywhere else. We live with these monsters unfortunately

[@madqtofficial3451]

@@rs-xf9im we do but a tornado this strong in Arkansas is rare

[@birdman9701]

This is north-ish eastern AR, not NWA

[@madqtofficial3451]

@@birdman9701 it might be however Jonesboro is considered NW Arkansas

[@birdman9701]

@@madqtofficial3451 No, it really isn't. Not to anyone from Arkansas or with any sense of cardinality. It's half an hour from the bootheel of Missouri. Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, etc is NWA. Literally the opposite side of the state. Are you from Arkansas/do you have access to a map? Or are you just spouting inaccuracies because you're bored?