It’s only been a handful of days since a Little Rock tornado destroyed thousands of buildings and injured dozens. Recovery is well underway, but organizers are emphasizing how important it is to think about helping victims further down the road.
“Right now, this is personal. We all feel this,” said Lori Arnold-Ellis, executive director of the Red Cross serving Arkansas. “But we are human, and we will move on. But these people who have lost their homes, they’re not moving on any time soon. And never — this is going to be something that impacts them for the rest of their lives.”
Brian ChilsonRETURNING TO NORMAL: Lori Arnold-Ellis with the Red Cross says that while some can pick up and go back to work, others will be out of sorts for a long while.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr., city Directors Capi Peck and Antwan Phillips and a group of local organizations helping with storm recovery were included in a line-up of speakers before a lunch program to the Rotary Club 99 on Tuesday. At the end of the program, Rotary President Denver Peacock said that the club would establish a tornado relief task force and gather organizations and donations. Rotarians who donate at least $1,000 will be recognized at a later ceremony.
A key feature of the presentations was how the Little Rock community has come together. Scott said that within minutes of knowing the storm had hit, he was in communication with Gov. Sarah Sanders to discuss what federal contact needed to be made. Since then, numerous organizations have stepped up to the plate; residents have given their time and shown compassion to their neighbors. Donations are pouring in.
The speakers urged this: don’t become numb to what happened. Hundreds of families were displaced, and they won’t be returning to their normal routines any time soon. People need help now, but they will also need help in a few weeks when the buzz has died down.
Brian ChilsonREBUILDING: Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. says that officials and residents should work with the mindset that things will get back to normal, and be better.
Scott said that housing policies from the city’s perspective will become even more important as people who lost their homes try to pick up the pieces. A new house takes at least nine months to build, Scott said. With delays and the financial environment, that timeline is likely longer.
“We’re going to work our butts off to ensure that we fully recover,” Scott said. “We’re going to have the type of mindset that things will go back to normal, but be even better than before.”
Peck, who is also the owner of Trio’s Restaurant, was on site when the tornado came through Cantrell Road. She piled the 25-30 customers in the restaurant at the time into the walk-in coolers where they survived the storm. Afterward, Peck said that she got the food products out the door and into food banks. She said that she’s not sure when Trio’s will open back up; the building has been compromised.
The initial response to get food to families has been great, Peck said. In fact, too many hot meals are being offered that some are going to waste. Moving forward, the speakers said that nonperishable items and easy-to-eat food will be more helpful. Monetary donations are the best way to support the recovery because not all the needs are currently known.
Brian ChilsonPLENTY OF WORK TO DO: City Director Antwan Phillips says that there’s still a lot of work to do, but there will be work to do for weeks to come.
Phillips, a huge Jay-Z fan, noted a post-9/11 lyric that said, “When the twin towers dropped, I was the first in line.” Phillips said that being among the first to help with the tornado damage is great, but there will still be tons to do down the road.
“Just because you weren’t first in line, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in line to help people,” Phillips said.
Brian Burton, CEO of the Arkansas Food Bank, said that it’s going to take longer for some Arkansans to rebuild because they live in a state of poverty. He said that folks need the food bank year-around, and the organization reached its lowest levels of food in reserves in its history just 10 days ago. Burton said that 500 families visited the food bank yesterday, and by 5 p.m., they were running low on canned goods.
“Do not be weary of well-doing,” Burton said. “Please. This is going to take a long time, and we can’t get discouraged.”
Brian ChilsonLOOKING LONG-TERM: CEO of the Arkansas Food Bank, Brian Burton, said that folks need the food bank year-around. Hundreds of families are using the food bank with the state’s recent tornadoes.
Bill Mockabee with the Salvation Army said that more than 4,000 hot meals have been served in the days since the Little Rock tornado. As he looks to long-term recovery, he said that monetary donations gives organizations the fluidity to tackle things that aren’t an issue today, but may be in a month. The Salvation Army will continue to feed folks through Monday, and then they will do a reassessment of what needs to be done.
While looking forward, the speakers also took a look back at the “unbelievable” events of Friday. THV-11 Meteorologist Skot Covert said that every station knocked it out of the park with warning residents beforehand. He said that the men and women at the National Weather Service were heroes for bypassing their standard procedures to extend warnings.
Covert said that he fully believes that decisions from school districts to keep kids in place and the near-hour warnings from weathercasters saved lives on Friday. Using weather balloons and other cities’ radars, Covert said that they were able to find out exactly what was coming for Little Rock. He said that the environment in the air above the city was a “powder keg” and nothing was going to stop a severe storm from going through Little Rock.
Brian ChilsonBE PREPARED: Meteorologist Skot Covert said another volatile storm is headed toward Central Arkansas Tuesday evening.
The storm was declared an EF3 on Saturday, with winds up to 165 miles per hour. However, an EF4 tornado clock in with winds at 166 miles per hour, so it wasn’t far off. Covert said that debris from the storm was flying about 13,000 feet in the air. Tree signs from west Little Rock have been found in Sherwood, he said.
Scott reflected on how different Friday could have been if the storm came through a few hours later when kids were home from school and adults were on the roads for their work commutes.
“It is by the grace of God that we’ve not experienced any fatalities, and that should not be lost,” Scott said.
Covert also warned about severe weather headed for Arkansas Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
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