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U of A rice center spared by tornado, but remains closedArkansas Dr. Chris Deren, director of the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, was relieved and thankful that the center's headquarters and research buildings were spared a direct hit from the late May 10 tornado that ripped through Stuttgart. "It was remarkable," he said. "We're nine miles east of town, and the storm hit every piece of property along Hwy. 130 up to the station, then skipped around us, and we're a big target." The tornado hit a metal and wood storage building containing several pieces of equipment, including planters, threshers and combines. The compact machines for research plot work were strewn across a field, and some were carried across a county road and into an adjoining field about an eighth of a mile away. Dr. James Gibbons, a rice breeder for the U of A Division of Agriculture, said he lost most of his research for this year when the tornado destroyed his plot containing rice seedlings. The storm continued down Tarkington Road and hit a large farming operation. Deren said the station was closed May 12 and 13. "We were closed yesterday so our employees could get their lives back together," he said. Deren, who lives at the station, said many of the station's 65 employees live in Stuttgart and surrounding areas, and many of their homes were damaged. The station was without power and telephone service, he said, and "that's what we need to function." He said he intended to direct cleanup efforts at the station Tuesday, but a heavy thunderstorm interrupted them. Thunderstorms were predicted again Wednesday. "I'm sitting on the fence about whether to open tomorrow, but we'll probably be closed again," Deren said. The Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center adjacent to the U of A rice center also was untouched by the tornado. They still had electrical power thanks to a generator. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture. ====CUTLINES FOR TORNADO ART===== (Extension Photos by Lamar James) Stuttgart tornado 2 - Dr. Karen Moldenhauer, rice researcher at the U of A Rice Research and Extension Center, stands in front of field where tornado blew equipment and debris from storage building. Stuttgart tornado 8 - Drs. James Gibbons (L) and Merle Anders survey storm damage. Gibbons said the tornado destroyed almost a year's worth of his research when it hit a plot of rice seedlings in the field. Stuttgart tornado 14 - Farmers survey a twisted farm structure on Tarkington Road near the rice center. Stuttgart tornado 32 - Two employees of Erwin and McCorkindale Accounting Firm in Stuttgart, relax in front of their roofless building. Stuttgart tornado 49 - Leland Carle of Stuttgart relaxes in front of his van which caught the brunt of a tree limb. Stuttgart tornado 55 - A U of A rice center metal and wood storage building is scattered for hundreds of yards as is much of the specialized equipment for inside. Stuttgart tornado 60 - Bill Richter, a building and equipment worker at the rice center, points to an adjoining field an eighth mile away where some of the heavy farm equipment was blown. Stuttgart tornado 89 - The tornado snapped a wooden utility pole in half, and parts of the pole and a U of A storage building and equipment lie scattered in a field. 6/2/08 Date: 5/29/08
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