By Chris Allen, American Red Cross

Cindy Hald heard the storm coming but didn’t have time to shout up the steps to wake up her three children.

“It just came out of no where. I heard it and before I could even get them downstairs it was over,” she recalled. The tornado sprang up so fast that the warning sirens blew after the storm had already passed. No one had time to take cover.

Fortunately for Cindy, her children Brianna, Tanis and Zarine, no one was injured. Their home, however, sustained considerable damage. “The whole house was covered with trees,” Hald said. “We couldn’t even get out.”

Next door to the Hald residence, Leslie Davis stepped into his living room.

“I pulled the curtains open and it was fine. I walked into my office and there were trees everywhere. It was like a silent bomb,” Davis shared. He watched the outside wall of his house crack. A tree fell, creating a hole in the ceiling. Another hole from a falling limb opened his kitchen ceiling to the outside.

Just hours after an F1 tornado swept through Ozark, AR, the American Red Cross was in town offering assistance and comfort to families whose houses had been hit. Red Cross volunteers sat down with both Hald and Davis to make sure they had shelter, food, clothing or any other needs. They also brought with them stuffed bears to provide comfort to the smaller children in the Woodland West neighborhood, where damage was the worst.

During times of disaster, Red Cross volunteers provide comfort and hope. They are there to help communities rebuild, provide emergency supplies, and a shoulder to lean on. This assistance is often the first lifeline to help families recover from disasters. We could not do it without the support of our financial donors. Donations to the Red Cross are used to give assistance to those affected by disasters like the one that struck Ozark and those displaced by home fires.