EAST END, Ark. — Crews and neighbors have been hard at work in Sardis and East End, working to clean up trees and debris from Friday night's EF-1 tornado.
Dennis Holleman and his neighbors were left with a lot of cleaning up to do after the tornado rolled through.
Thankfully though, the work started immediately with help from others.
"There was a tremendous outpouring from the community that came and helped. There were probably 25 or 30 people out here [on] Saturday morning, just pitching in," Holleman said.
He was left with some roof damage, but he said he's grateful that it wasn't any worse and that his family is safe.
"By the time we could get up and start moving, it was here. It was just that quick. It hit and was just a loud, real loud rushing wind. It didn't last very long, maybe 30 to 45 seconds, but then it was over," he described.
He now has tarps on his roof to prevent any more damage and is waiting on the insurance adjustor before he can move forward.
According to Saline County Spokesperson Trevor Villines, others near East Sardis Road and Block Road experienced some damage too.
"We've got multiple houses, [that have] some damage with trees on them. We had a one tree blocking the roadways, lots of power lines down," Villines added.
On Monday, crews still worked to clean up some of those trees and power lines.
"Their primary goal is picking up debris that's in the right of way on either side of the roads. Hopefully, they'll get that done today. But it may take a while," he explained.
Even though Holleman was without power on Friday night, he didn't have to wait too long until he got it back.
"They had the power back on at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning," he added. "Grateful it wasn't any worse than just a little overwhelmed. You know, trying to get everything cleaned up and back to normal again, which it may take a while to do."
"Our first responders, the power companies, road department, they all did a top-notch job in terms of getting out there and getting things cleaned up," Villines said.
Villines kindly asks that people avoid the area to give workers some space.