At least six homes were damaged near Evansville in southwestern Washington County during an overnight storm Wednesday, said John Luther, director of the county's emergency management department. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in the area.
Two people were taken from Crawford County to a Fort Smith hospital with serious injuries, then flown to a Tulsa hospital, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office said.
The service said in a tweet it had found damage consistent with an EF2 tornado in Washington County.
Luther said nobody was injured by the storm in Washington County, although the Washington County Sheriff's Office reported on Facebook that one person had minor cuts.
Tornado warnings were issued for the Evansville area around 10:05 p.m. Hail up to the size of a quarter was also reported.
Cars were blown across driveways, trees downed and roofs peeled off, Luther said.
Two homes had severe enough damage that they must be rebuilt, Luther said.
Emergency workers searched homes and helped residents, finishing up at 4:30 a.m. today, Luther said.
Entergy Arkansas reported about 900 electrical outages at daybreak Thursday, with most of them in south Arkansas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.