CLEBURNE COUNTY: Thankful to be alive

Cleburne County communities sustain heavy damage from tornado, no lives lost

By Amy Widner

Photo by Greg Benenati

Volunteer Shara Turk boxes up what remains of the Lee family's possessions Monday in the Emerald Isle neighborhood in Greers Ferry.

ADVERSTISMENT

LITTLE ROCK — Annie Littlefield, 80, said she does not remember anything about the tornado that ripped through Greers Ferry Friday, which battered the walls of the room in which she and her son had taken shelter.

"I heard the first noise - we were hiding in the closet - and my son said, 'the house is going to go.' And from that point on my mind just blocked it out," Littlefield said. "But my house didn't go. My sister next door - their house was totaled."

When Littlefield and her son emerged from their closet, they discovered plywood from her sister's house had blown into the bathroom next to where they had taken shelter, leaving a pile of debris more than 2 feet deep on the floor.

Then came the task of helping her sister, Edna Garantine, 71, and husband John Garantine, 74, whose house had caved in on them. It took about eight men to help them out of the wreckage.

"A lot of people came, and they dug us out," Garantine said.

"My husband's leg was hurt, and we were bruised up, but that was it - other than losing everything we have."

Littlefield and the Garantines live in the Burning Tree area. Greers Ferry First Assembly of God Deacon Don Shipp visited them and was shocked by the devastation.

"I went down there to try to see them, and that whole street is so damaged that I literally had to stop and ask a neighbor if I was in the right place because you couldn't tell where you were at," Shipp said.

Mayor Shelly Davis said Burning Tree was one of the hardest-hit areas of Greers Ferry, along with El Camino Real and Emerald Isle. Gov. Mike Beebe toured these areas Monday morning.

"He visited with homeowners in all three locations, where there's pretty much total devastation" Davis said.

"We do have some areas where houses on both sides were hit but the one in between just suffered roof damage - it just varies, but it's bad."

Davis said Beebe was only scheduled to spend an hour in Greers Ferry but stayed two hours, meeting individuals and walking among the damaged homes.

Beebe told Davis he would try to help get federal assistance for the area, where adisaster recovery center has already been set up at City Hall and will remain open at least through the weekend, Davis said.

Cleburne County Economic Development Director Jim Jackson said anyone needing assistance should go to the recovery center, where personal items, toiletries, food and tetanus shots are available, as well as state and federal assistance personnel.

Passes, which are available at the center, are required for people to travel to tornado-damaged areas.

The Salvation Army had a tent near City Hall where they served hot meals earlier in the week. Sid Page, housing manager at the Little Rock Salvation Army Harbor Lights Shelter, helped run the meal service and the effort to get food to people still stranded near their homes.

Page said they delivered about 150 sandwiches for lunch Monday and served more than 40 lunch servings of hot meals.

The group preparing the sandwiches was from the Budd Creek Church Camp, where temporary shelters are also available. Page said the Salvation Army crews in the area are not taking clothing donations.

"In situations like this monetary donations are always accepted," Page said. "I know a lot of people have been openingup their hearts and their wallets and bringing food out. But the Salvation Army always takes monetary donations - that way they can tell us what they need, and then we can provide it."

Jackson said the Greers Ferry area was the hardest hit, but countywide about 68 homes were completely destroyed, and170 were damaged. Page said seeing devastation of that scale is a humbling experience.

"You have to be thankful for what you have," Page said. "There are these people here who lost everything but are still thankful to be alive."

Shipp said he was thankful there were no deaths in Cleburne County and that some people's homes were spared.

"I know that there are people who have lost everything, but there are so many homesthat the tornado went around and left, and that's nothing short of amazing," Shipp said.

Despite losing her home, Garantine said she counts herself lucky.

"There were a lot of people in our state that weren't as lucky, and I so feel for them," Garantine said.

"All we lost were our possessions. We'd put everything from over 50 years in that house, where we'd come to retire. But I feel more forthe ones whose families were lost."

Littlefield and Garantine both said they feel lucky to have received such an outpouring of help from the community.

"I know one thing - I'll never live in a big city again," Garantine said. "In a smalltown like this everybody knows each other, and you can trust your neighbors and treat your neighbors like you should, which is exactly what has happened here, and I'm thankful." - awidner@ arkansasonline.com

Three Rivers, Pages 56, 58 on 05/08/2008