Central Arkansas marks year since tornado

A deadly EF4 tornado that killed 15 people and destroyed homes and businesses ripped through central Arkansas one year ago Monday.

Five twisters hit the state that day, the strongest of those forming 5.4 miles west of Ferndale in western Pulaski County that continued on through Faulkner and White counties before ending 41.3 miles away, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

The storm claimed the lives of Paula Blakemore, 55, of El Paso; Mark Bradley, 51, of Mayflower; Jayme Collins, 50, of Vilonia; Helen Greer, 72, of Mayflower; Jeffrey Hunter, 22, of Vilonia; Dennis and Glenna Lavergne, 52 and 53, of Vilonia; David Mallory, 58, of Vilonia; Robert Oliver, 82, of Mayflower; Cameron and Tyler Smith, 7 and 9, of Vilonia; Robert, Tori and Rebekah Tittle, 48, 20 and 14, of Paron; and Daniel Wassom, 31, of Vilonia.

While debris from the tornado still litters several areas, communities have rebuilt some homes and businesses destroyed in the storm last year.

In Mayflower, residents of the Gibson Bridge Road area and Dam Road have purchased manufactured homes or rebuilt using insurance funds.

The Dollar General in Vilonia built a new storefront, while an empty concrete foundation is the only thing that remains of a shopping center just down the road on Main Street. A few new houses have been built in the hard-hit Parkwood Meadows subdivision off Naylor Road, but many of the lots are vacant.

On Deer Drive in Paron, several empty lots with evidence of tornado debris sit between new and repaired homes damaged in the storm. A cross made of wooden logs marks the location of the Tittle home, where three family members died that day.

Community members of Mayflower gathered Sunday for a remembrance service at First Baptist Church. The city of Vilonia will host an anniversary reception from 7-9 p.m. Monday at the Vilonia High School cafeteria in remembrance of lives lost in the storm, as well as to talk about how the city will continue to move forward.