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Official National Weather Service post-mortem report: Two young children were killed in Fort Smith, 40 people were injured in Sebastian County, and 49 people were injured in Crawford County. In Sebastian County, 35 homes were destroyed, 120 homes sustained major damage, 1,133 homes had minor damage, and 88 businesses were damaged or destroyed. Several brick buildings in downtown Fort Smith were either damaged or destroyed. In Crawford County, 463 homes were destroyed, 500 homes sustained major damage, 142 homes had minor damage, 246 apartment units were damaged, and 10 businesses were damaged or destroyed.
The Tulsa National Weather Service Office issued a total of 99 county warnings for severe thunderstorms or tornadoes, beginning at 1:51pm on April 21st, with the last warning issued at 2:22am on April 22.
The Fort Smith tornado was rated F-3 on the Fujita Scale, indicating winds up to 200 miles per hour.
At 10:22pm on April 21, a tornado warning was issued for Sequoyah and LeFlore Counties in Oklahoma – the two counties which border on heavily-populated Sebastian and Crawford Counties in Arkansas. But despite numerous spotter reports of funnel clouds and rotation, a mere severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Sebastian and Crawford at 10:54pm.
A second tornado hit Crawford County a little after 2:00am on April 22 (and this time, a warning was issued in advance). Spotters reported another visible rotation just west of Fort Smith at 3:00am as well, but no tornado formed.
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