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The roof of the Refuge Baptist Church in Arkansas was ripped off and debris was strewn on the property after Hurricane Laura rolled through the state, bringing heavy rains and winds and causing power outages for thousands of people.
HURRICANE LAURA SEEN BURSTING WITH LIGHTENING IN NOAA'S SATELLITE IMAGERY
The storm, which made landfall on the coast of Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 hurricane overnight Wednesday, was downgraded to a tropical depression once it crossed into Arkansas late Thursday, but the region still sustained significant damage.
A tornado warning went into effect about 6 p.m. Thursday in Craighead County and remained into the overnight hours. The church, located in the western end of Lake City, 15 miles east of Jonesboro, was crumpled, with a family center torn to rubble. A church van was buried in debris.
A pastor living next door to the church confirmed everyone was safe, according to reports by Region 8 News.
In Jonesboro, a gas line was also ruptured, but no injuries were reported, said the city's E-911 director, Jeff Presley.
Presley said rescue crews were working to extricate a woman trapped when storm winds dropped a tree limb on her mobile home in Jonesboro.
Major roof damage was reported in Goobertown, a community 10 miles northeast of Jonesboro, Presley added.
As many as 50,000 people across Arkansas were without power Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks disruptions across the nation.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock said peak gusts from Laura ranged from 45 mph to more than 55 mph in parts of central and southern Arkansas, toppling trees and homes.
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The National Hurricane Center said that the downgraded storm would continue to drench parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky and cause flooding, with some areas seeing totals of up to 5 inches of rainfall.
The brunt of Laura was felt across Louisiana and parts of Texas, where six people died in what is considered one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States.
