LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The deadly tornadoes that hit Northwest Arkansas earlier this week came just a little over a year after Central Arkansas experienced an EF-3 tornado of its own. Those powerful twisters brought along some anxiety and even PTSD with them.
Now, some people in Central Arkansans have been working to help our neighbors to the north navigate the long road ahead.
Dylan Bevill-Smith survived the 2023 tornado in Little Rock's Walnut Valley neighborhood and explained that ever since he barely sleeps when there's any chance of severe weather.
He described that anytime he sees a tornado warning or even a tornado watch there's a spine-tingling shiver that runs through his body. Over a year later, he has been seeing friends go through a similar trauma in Northwest Arkansas.
"We were devastated for them because they were all freaking out. But they were all trying to reach out to me at the same time. Because they were just like, hey, you're kind of an expert right now. What should we do?" Bevill-Smith explained.
However, he wasn't the only one, other neighbors in Walnut Valley also had loved ones who were impacted by the tornados that happened over Memorial Day weekend.
To help others, people in the neighborhood took to Facebook and shared their advice on how to navigate the cleanup process, insurance procedures, and even gave advice for dealing with stress.
"There's actually like six of us around here. That will start all calling each other and just alerting whenever something's going on. And we'll just take watches and whatnot and be like okay, for the first couple of hours, we will call if we need to start waking [people] up," Bevill-Smith described.
That storm anxiety is something therapist Natasha Thorne with Eunoia Therapy helps her clients handle.
"If you notice that you're just getting a lot more anxious, where you're just kind of obsessively worried about the weather," Thorne said. "It's a good possibility that there is some storm anxiety going on there."
Thorne shared several ways to help ease storm anxiety including:
- Identify where the anxiety comes from
- Plan a safe space/evacuation plan
- Make a storm kit with essentials
- Stay present with breathing exercises
- Talk to someone about it
She also said that finding support from those who have been through a similar experience, like Bevill-Smith speaking with friends in Northwest Arkansas, could be an additional help.
"Anyone who has been through what you've been through, or is going through, what you're going through is going to be able to provide a shoulder or a certain level of understanding certain level of empathy.," Thorne described.
Residents like Bevill-Smith in Walnut Valley are ready to be that shoulder.
"We want to be a beacon of hope for them. Because God knows it's gonna be a journey for them for recovery," he added.
For resources on how to help those in Northwest Arkansas recover from the deadly tornados, please click here.