Vilonia: Tornado Causes ‘Extreme Damage’ in Arkansas Town, Kills 16 (+Photos) [UPDATED]

Homes and businesses are wrecked in downton Vilonia, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014 after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. The most powerful twister this year carved an 80-mile path of destruction through suburbs north of the state capital of Little Rock, killing at least 16 people. AP Photo/Danny Johnston

A tornado cut an 80-mile path of destruction in Arkansas on Sunday, hitting the towns of Vilonia and Mayflower the hardest. The tornado was pegged at half a mile wide at some points.

Robert Hettchen, a trained spotter, initially reported that there is “extreme damage” in Vilonia.

The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office said that many homes have been flattened in Vilonia and Mayflower and that at least six people are confirmed dead.

The death count was later upped to 16 on Monday morning.

Photos shared on Twitter and Facebook show damage to the local intermediate school among other buildings.

Brandon Morris, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said crews were sifting through the rubble in the hope of uncovering survivors and to assess the full extent of the destruction.

“Right now, the main focus is life safety,” Morris said. “We’re trying to make sure everyone is accounted for.”

A trail of debris, bottom, leads along the path of a tornado-devastated neighborhood in Vilonia, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014, after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Karla Ault, a Vilonia High School volleyball coach, said she sheltered in the school gymnasium as the storm approached. After it passed, her husband told her their home was reduced to the slab on which it had sat.

“I’m just kind of numb. It’s just shock that you lost everything. You don’t understand everything you have until you realize that all I’ve got now is just what I have on,” Ault said.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said he was virtually certain the storm that hit Vilonia and nearby Mayflower would be rated as the nation’s strongest twister to date this year.

“It has the potential to be EF3 or greater,” meteorologist Jeff Hood said. EF3 storms have winds greater than 136 mph. “Based on some of the footage we’ve seen from Mayflower and where it crossed Interstate 40, things were wrecked in a very significant way.”

He said officials are also looking at the environmental impact. “Making sure utilities are cut off in the area. We don’t want anything to get, any fires to start or anything like that.”

The National Weather Service said that the tornado touched down five miles southwest of Vilonia at about 8:45 p.m. CDT and was moving near El Paso and Floyd a short time later. The tornado later moved toward Steprock and Searcy.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report