Denning: One Year After The Deadly Tornado
By: Clint Boone
Updated: May 22, 2012
No one in Denning will ever forget the devastation caused by a killer
tornado. One that tore a path of destruction through the area on the
night of May 24th, 2011.
Countless structures damaged and destroyed. There were many injuries and lives were lost. Months of cleanup. Those without homes lived in tents during one of the hottest summers on record.
Keith and Sheila Helmert are just two of the of the many hit hard by the tornado.
Sheila Helmert remembers the terrifying minutes right before it hit.
"So, we get into the bedroom and we crouched down," she said. "Me and my daughter and my husband was still in the living room. All of the sudden we heard the roof come off the house. Then, later the trees hit the back bedroom and we were just praying that God keep us through it."
The Helmerts were okay but their house was not. Twisted trees tore into the home. The car port was crushed like a tin can.
They decided to replace the roof of their old house but there is still a lot of work to be done. They now live in a new mobile home.
Since the tornado from last May, many families such as the Helmerts have invested in a new storm shelter. So, if there is another storm coming, they are going to have peace of mind.
Today, in Denning, Arkansas, the mounds of debris are gone. But you can still see signs of the wreckage.
Life is slowly getting back to normal here. New trees are growing and flowers are blooming.
For the Helmerts, it's a sign that a new beginning is taking place in the wake of destruction.
Countless structures damaged and destroyed. There were many injuries and lives were lost. Months of cleanup. Those without homes lived in tents during one of the hottest summers on record.
Keith and Sheila Helmert are just two of the of the many hit hard by the tornado.
Sheila Helmert remembers the terrifying minutes right before it hit.
"So, we get into the bedroom and we crouched down," she said. "Me and my daughter and my husband was still in the living room. All of the sudden we heard the roof come off the house. Then, later the trees hit the back bedroom and we were just praying that God keep us through it."
The Helmerts were okay but their house was not. Twisted trees tore into the home. The car port was crushed like a tin can.
They decided to replace the roof of their old house but there is still a lot of work to be done. They now live in a new mobile home.
Since the tornado from last May, many families such as the Helmerts have invested in a new storm shelter. So, if there is another storm coming, they are going to have peace of mind.
Today, in Denning, Arkansas, the mounds of debris are gone. But you can still see signs of the wreckage.
Life is slowly getting back to normal here. New trees are growing and flowers are blooming.
For the Helmerts, it's a sign that a new beginning is taking place in the wake of destruction.
