West part of Wynne picking up the pieces after destructive tornado

WYNNE, Ark. (KAIT) - Many people on the west side of Wynne are having to start from scratch after Friday’s tornado ripped apart homes in the area.

Every person was forced to deal with something different, whether it was checking on family members or riding out the storm in their house.

Sincorya Williams spent the evening wondering if her family’s house was going to make it.

When the dust settled and all that was left were a couple of walls, it hit hard.

“When I first saw it Friday, I cried because it has been here for years and then I just thought about my mom was in there, my grandma, and the roof fell on them it’s just sad,” Williams said.

Some people though didn’t have any walls left.

Eric Lyons rushed to town to check on his grandmother and all that was left was rubble.

Fortunately, she lived and was offered a helping hand by some good Samaritans over the weekend and into Monday.

“They just came up and asked if we needed some help and we said ‘yes’ and God blessed us with three or four different machines and probably about 20 people helping out,” Lyons said.

For Nicole Welbd, the situation was different.

She and her daughter were taking shelter in a closet when the storm hit, and she thought her life was over.

“While we were in the closet, the roof just flew off and debris hit us, hail hit us, I thought we were going to die,” Welbd said.

When the dust settled, the only thing left in the closet was a picture of her father that did not have a scratch on it.

Welbd said it was a sign that no matter what happens, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that things will work out.

Copyright 2023 KAIT. All rights reserved.