A line of severe storms caused wind damage to about 40 homes in Elkins on Tuesday afternoon.
Orvetta Cox of 14124 Hummingbird Road said she ran to her hallway when she heard her roof began to crack.
The 89-year-old wasn’t injured, but nearly half the roof was ripped from her home and several nearby trees were uprooted.
Cox lives northeast of Lake Sequoyah and northwest of Elkins.
John Luther, emergency management director for Washington County, said homes in two subdivisions of Elkins had shingle or roof damage.
Luther said the county sent an emergency declaration to the state Department of Emergency Management.
“It could help the state provide us resources if there’s anything we need,” he said.
About 3:45 p.m. in Fayetteville emergency personnel rushed to a low water bridge over Scull Creek near Wilson Park.
Sgt. Craig Stout said a man was swept oft a scooter while crossing the bridge next to the Frisco Trail. A group of friends pulled the man to safety before officers arrived, Stout said. “They were gone by the time we got there,” Stout said.
Police closed the bridge. Stout said he didn’t know of any other street closings in Fayetteville.
“We didn’t have a lot of calls,” he said. “There were a few minor accidents, but it was slower than a normal day.”
Fayetteville, Elkins, Greenland and West Fork school districts didn’t allow students to board buses until the storm passed.
Greenland kept students in safe rooms at the high school and middle school, and didn’t allow buses to leave until 4:05 p.m., said Superintendent Charles Cudney.
Similar situations were reported in Elkins and West Fork, according to spokesmen in those administrative offices.
Assistant Superintendent Ginny Wiseman said Fayetteville students weren’t allowed to leave until an all clear from the National Weather Service was announced.
Joe Sellers, a meteorologist with the weather service, said Washington County received less than a half inch of rain as of 5 p.m.
“There was a possibility of a tornado northwest of Crawford County, which may have crossed over into Washington County, but that hasn’t been confirmed,” he said.
Washington County was under a tornado watch for most of the day Tuesday. A warning was issued just before 3 p.m. and expired at 3:30 p.m.
Ozarks Electric Cooperative reported 997 customers lost power in eastern Washington County and Madison County at 5:10 p.m.
The outages began after high wind ripped through the area, tearing down power lines just after 4 p.m.
Power was restored to most customers by 5:30 p.m. There were 176 customers without power near Wyola, Combs and Wesley.
Sellers said he expected temperatures to drop about 30 degrees. Today’s high is forecast to be near 40.
TONY HERNANDEZ, ROSE ANN PEARCE AND ANDY SHUPE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.