HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — People are still cleaning up after the EF-2 tornado that hit Hot Springs in early May.
Now, local realtors are stepping up to help and offer some financial assistance to get them back on their feet
"A mess," Hot Springs resident Greg Poirier said about his house and yard after the tornado. "A big, tangled mess."
Poirier was on vacation when the tornado tore through the area.
"We had 14 trees that had fallen on our property," Poirer said. "Many of them were on the house, and the pickup truck and the pontoon boat."
Thankfully, he had neighbors help with some of the cleanup while he was away, but there's still much more to do.
Poirier said he's thankful for the city's quick debris cleanup response.
"It was very scary because we weren't here, but it was also a blessing that we weren't here," Poirer said. "Because the tornado hit the house, so just according to how you look at it."
The Hot Springs Board of Realtors is stepping in to help as his neighborhood continues to clean up and recover.
"Hot Springs Board of Realtors, through the NAR realtor relief fund... is going to be set at setting up a command center," Hot Springs Board of Realtors President Karol Bailes said.
Bailes said they'll help them fill out the application, and they can receive up to $1,500.
"It did a lot of damage to a lot of different areas, and the way the path was, it hit kind of along the lake," Bailes said. "It hit various neighborhoods all around."
There is a need for it, and Bailes said she hopes people will apply for financial assistance.
"It'll be made payable to the applicant," Bailes said. "It is based on their mortgage and rent payments and what they have to show for proof. But they will be able to use it for whatever they need to."
Now, she and the board are trying to spread the word before they set up the command center next Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We are going to be doing boots on the ground with flyers between now and Monday to all of the affected streets," Bailes said. "I'm hoping that we get the word out to everyone. We certainly want to get everyone who will request it helped."
The command center will be open on June 4 and June 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hot Springs Board of Realtors office at 437 Orange Street.
Applicants will need to have photos of damage and proof of residence to go along with their application.