By: John A. Brimley

Erica Brown bought her dream home in 2020. She remodeled the inside to her own taste and liking before moving in. Her dream was finally a reality. In matter of minutes, she faced the real possibility of that dream becoming a nightmare when an EF-3 tornado ripped through Central Arkansas on March 31, 2023.

Brown stood on her front porch with her two kids, 12 and eight, as her neighbors ran for shelter just across the street from her Jacksonville, Ark. home. As she and her kids were about to make a run for it, debris littered the air and prevented her and her family from going to the shelter.

“I didn’t make it, me and my kids,” Brown said. “The debris was flying everywhere, so I put my kids in the tub. It was a Hail Mary at that point.”

Brown bought her childhood home with the hopes of creating the lifelong memories that helped usher her and her siblings into adulthood.

“Looking at it now. Every time I go over there it is like ripping a band aid over a scab,” she said. “It’s sad.”

Brown’s living at the Fairfield Inn in North Little Rock, Ark. where Red Cross is providing feeding, services, and referrals to residents in temporary shelter.

Red Cross staff and volunteers post in the lobby of dozens of hotels across Pulaski, Lonoke and Cross Counties where hundreds of individuals and families who suffered significant damage to their homes take up residence. Brown and her family’s daily routine include shuttling downstairs for lunch and dinner provided by Red Cross.

For many Central Arkansans like Brown, memories of that deadly tornado are still vivid a month later. The time and distance do not necessarily heal the wounds caused by the late March tornado.

“In a few days it’ll be a full month since the tornado,” Brown said as tears filled her eyes, “and every time I go home it feels like yesterday.”

Brown is not alone in her struggles reflecting on that day. According to the Red Cross Individual Disaster Care (IDC) team, the recovery of homes and material possessions happen quicker than the emotional and mental trauma many people have experienced.

“With so many people struggling and needing help, you want to help everybody,” said Elaine Johnson, spiritual care volunteer on the IDC team. “I can’t physically help everybody, so I remind myself that one at a time goes a long way.”

IDC teams consist of mental, health, and spiritual care professionals. In a typical disaster response operation, the IDC team works in shelters and interact with those residents to provide health, mental, and spiritual care. However, with hundreds of clients spread across dozens of hotels, they make their rounds to the different sites to see clients. Shelter workers will also call them at the request for their assistance.

Julie Phillips, a registered nurse on the IDC team, met with Brown in the hotel lobby to assess her needs. However, Brown has already made significant progress towards recovering some of the essential things she lost in the tornado.

“She’s already started the process of replacing prescriptions and other things that I didn’t have to help her much medically,” said Phillips. “I wanted to make sure they’re doing okay mentally, emotionally and if she needed mental health.”

While still visibly emotional, Brown’s resilience is found in her willingness and ability to help others.

“You do not do it for recognition. It is hard to relate to a person when you have not walked in their shoes. I can honestly say that I have been there. It takes away from the pain to see you help others,” she said.

As painful as the images she sees when she goes back home, she is equally joyful about getting back to the memories that drove her to purchase and renovate the home she grew up in.

“Everyone always came to my house growing up. I have so many memories,” Brown said. “We’re going to throw a barbecue and do what we do best, love on each other.”