A tornado touching down Jan. 21 near Foreman, Ark., with winds of about 110 mph caused an estimated $1 million in damages to the Legacy Ranch's barns and equipment, one of the owners said.
The headquarters of the Legacy Ranch is located on Little River County Road 1 in the southwest section of the county near the Red River. The ranch received extensive damage to three metal barns and three out of four tractor-trailers were blown over. The estimated damage was listed at $1 million, according to the the ranch's owner.
The Legacy Ranch lodge was spared from the tornado damage.
"I can't describe how fortunate we were and can't describe the despair if the lodge had been hit," said Robert Ashley, a partner with his son Jeff Ashley.
"No one was hurt. The tornado went within 100 yards of the lodge," said Robert Ashley.
"God blessed us there. I'm not a liberal and I believe in God and proud of it and you can say God blessed us," he said.
"All of the beef cattle and elk were spared," he said.
The tornado totally crushed one metal barn described at 100 feet in length, 60 feet wide and 18 feet in height.
Robert Ashley estimated one barn will cost about $200,000 to replace.
The winds caused metal to hit another barn and he estimated about $780,000 worth of equipment had been buried by the flying debris.
"We have no idea what is under one of the barns. One barn covered a self-propelled hay cutter. It's too dangerous to inspect now," Robert Ashley said.
The self-propelled hay cutter is valued at $250,000.
The tornado touched down about 9:48 p.m. Jan. 21 seven miles south-southwest of the city of Foreman at the Legacy Ranch.
The tornado stripped a fence, the siding and roofing off a large barn and flipped three semi-trailers on their side. The tornado then moved northeast across Arkansas Highway 41, snapping power poles and trees, according to the National Weather Service in Shreveport, La.
The Wallace, Ark., First Baptist Church lost several shingles, and several homes in the area sustained minor roof damage.
The National Weather Service estimated wind speeds between 100 and 110 miles per hour with a path about 295 yards wide.
The tornado was produced by the same thunderstorm that generated two tornadoes in Bowie County, Texas earlier that evening.
The NWS has confirmed that an EF-2 tornado touched down at 9:26 p.m. Jan. 21 four miles southwest of DeKalb. The tornado stayed on the ground for seven miles and has estimated peak winds of 125 mph. Damage included several homes and chicken houses.
A second, weaker tornado touched down about five miles north of Malta, according to NWS. It has been rated an EF-0 with estimated peak winds of 80 mph.