The East End community saw a tornado with winds of 111 to 135 MPH on Friday night. Now they are together cleaning up the damage.
Saline County, Arkansas — Thousands of people across Arkansas were hit by severe weather on Friday night.
Saline County is one of the areas affected as the tornado tore through the area.
East End community members spent most of the next day clearing and clearing the debris.
“It’s the most devastating thing I’ve seen here in a long time,” said Larry Cossey, whose home was affected.
The intensity of the storm was readily apparent near Sardis Road.
The roof of one house was blown off, leaving a large trail of debris.
“I was listening to the weather in a mad hole [and] I had no idea it was this bad until we came out,” Cossey said.
He explained that his storm shelter was miles away from his property, and when he got home, the scattered metal and tree branches were hard to digest.
“I automatically thought it was my house lying in the middle of the road and in the front yard,” Cossey explained.
He also said the storm approached so quickly that he was forced to leave the dog behind when he and his wife headed for shelter.
Public works crews and people living in the East End are working hard to pick up what’s blown in all directions.
“You can see the 2017 Nissan holding up pretty well against that big tree,” said Cossy.
The remains of Cossey’s neighborhood shed were spread across the street in the field, and other homes in the area were also heavily damaged.
After a chaotic night, Cossey explained how his community has really stepped up.
“My neighbors were out in T-shirts and shorts. [and] I was barely wearing shoes,” Cossey said.
Now that he continues to work to remove the damage and move forward, I can’t help but think that things could have been much worse.
“We are blessed. I would say we are very blessed,” Cossey said.
