JESSIEVILLE, Ark. — After severe storms swept through Arkansas on the second day of the near year, people in the Jessieville area spent the next day cleaning up the damage.
Family, friends, and even strangers all came together to help clean up.
"She called me probably about 30 minutes later and said, My house is gone. I need help," Shauna Wood said.
That's how Wood described the phone call with her mother after the tornado hit.
She also added that she'd just left her mother's house right before the storm.
"I live only about two miles [away]. But I felt like I was 30 miles. And so we all come up to try to find her," Wood said.
She also explained that a neighbor from across the street beat her to it.
"She has not even met him yet. So she owes him a thank you," she added.
Wood said the house also belonged to her grandmother, so was sad to see it damaged.
"Very sentimental. A lot of different emotions going on here...Now she's going to have to be forced to move. So we're going to have to help her decide what to do and where to live," she said.
At the end of the day, she said the house and most of the items in it can be replaced, but her mother's life can't.
"Thank God, they we all made it through it," she expressed.
Jessieville school staff members also went to check on her mother immediately after the tornado, and Superintendent, Melissa Speers said there's a lot to clean up over at the school, but the support has been overwhelming.
"Many individuals in the community have brought their personal equipment and have helped and we are so very thankful. So thankful to the community that we live in," Speers described.