Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Dwight Francis said on Tuesday afternoon that sirens in Belle on Saturday did not go off.

“The siren was set off and did not work,” Francis said. “Apparently it gets tested on a monthly basis and been working.”

Francis said it will be looked at to see what needs repaired.

“I have no damage reports from inside the city limits,” Francis added.

Belle residents expressed concern at a special meeting Monday with aldermen that they didn’t hear the sirens sound. Mayor Daryl White, Jr., said he was told they were set off but was out of town at the time.

While city residents didn’t report storm damage, the county residents on Highway 28, Highway 63 and other rural areas reported damage.

Fireman Ethan Butler said on Tuesday that the Belle Volunteer Fire Department were called in after the storm to go door-to-door and assisted with downed trees.

“Whenever the sirens do go off in town it sets off our radios through dispatch and the alert went off saying they were setting off,” Butler said when asked about the sirens. “There was heavy damage throughout Highway A off of Highway 63. We encountered several tees down or uprooted, a couple of buildings collapsed or blew over. We called mutual aid to assist in going door-to-door to check individuals and property.”

Butler said they started on Highway 28 outside of the city limits of Vichy going door-to-door.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of damage until about a half mile before the airport,” he reported. “From there, the crew went down Highway A outside of Vichy and went down gravel roads. They had significant damage that was wide spread.”

Weather stations reported 97-mile-an-hour winds.

“There was definitely severe damage to probably four buildings I encountered, either trees on top or blown over,” Butle said. “We had three trucks/crews out responding to the calls.”

A few minor injuries were reported.

“We had pea sized hail outside of Belle,” Butler said. “Closer to Vichy they experienced golf ball sized hail.”

Bland Fire Protection District Chief Mark Davis said on Tuesday that they experienced some damage and power outages in the area.

“In my area, we had golf ball and bigger hail damage,” Davis began. “Several reports of car windshields being broken out south of Highway C. Maries County Road 426 had several trees blown down. A garage had part of its shingles roof blow off. Highway U, there was a house just east of High Gate with a large oak tree was on the porch and the roof of the house. Along Elk Head Road, there was approximately ten trees blown over, some across the roadway. Several trees that I didn’t have to clear in the Redbird area. Several houses did have hail damage to siding, windows and roofs mainly south of the Dry Fork Creek. In the city of Bland, there was some tree damage with a large tree being blown over in the City Park.”

Davis added that some Inter-County Electric customers were out of electricity for 20-plus hours.