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Rebuilding Was A Group Effort
By Mary L. Crider
TIMES RECORD MCRIDER@SWTIMES.COM
When asked about it, anyone who experienced the April 21, 1996, tornado in Van Buren or who worked its aftermath will first say, Thank God no one was killed.
It looked like a war zone, but you couldnt grasp the magnitude of it because you couldnt see it all from one vantage point. We thought there would have to be bodies, said Bobby Gilstrap, then Van Burens fire chief.
Concern about rebuilding ran a distant second to concern about casualties. The body search, the relief measures and the rebuilding efforts were all true community efforts, interviewees stressed.
The tornado struck in both Fort Smith and Van Buren. It damaged or destroyed more than 500 Van Buren homes and a handful of businesses, Van Buren Fire Marshal James Griffin said.
Like many people involved in the rebuilding, Griffin was both a victim and a relief worker. The tornado took his Skyline Drive home.
Griffins family already had gone to bed when their golden retriever, which didnt like storms, woke Griffin. Griffin hustled his family into a little half-bathroom. It was the only room not damaged by the tornado.
Its the same story as everybody else. The room they were in was the only room not damaged. I dont feel like it was a coincidence. I feel like the good Lord was looking out for us, Griffin said.
Five years after the devastation, rebuilding is at least 99 percent complete, said building inspector Terry Wells.
Most homes have been built back. There are probably not over six or eight where the foundations are still setting some in Azure Hills and the Tanglewood Addition ... and one is slated for rebuilding now. The neighborhoods off of Rena Road are all built back a lot of the Clements Addition, Cedar Creek and Timber Oaks. ... One house is under construction on Skyline Drive, and theres only one (not-rebuilt foundation) left there, Wells said.
The bulk of the rebuilding was completed within two years.
By the first anniversary, you saw a big improvement in those neighborhoods. By the second year, if you didnt know a tornado had come through, you wouldnt be able to tell. ... For what damage we had, I think there was a fast recovery, Griffin said.
Van Buren homebuilder Joe Sirmon rebuilt and repaired about 30 tornado-damaged houses, including his own Fir Drive home. Sirmon said he repaired his roof as quickly as he could, then went to work for other people.
Initially, it seemed chaotic.
There was so much stuff going on around here that nobody knew what was going on. People wanted their stuff done now, but you had to prioritize, Sirmon said.
Most of the homes in Sirmons neighborhood were affected. And homes not in the direct path of the tornado saw a lot of wind damage, he said. Many had roofs or windows blown out. Where roofs were blown off, there was a lot of damage to the inside of the homes, Sirmon said.
Homebuilders worked some seven-day weeks while getting the recovery under way, he said.
I think things went back together a little quicker than I thought it would. You can still see things messed up like trees, but if youre not from around here, you wouldnt notice, Sirmon said.
Former Van Buren chief building inspector Carl Hines, now Greenwood inspector, said the rebuilding proceeded efficiently because administrative and records systems were already in place.
We continued like we always had, issuing permits and doing inspections. FEMA provided additional office staff for about three months and funding for temporary help doing inspections, Hines said.
It was a lot of work.
Hines remembers working 10-hour days and seven-day weeks.
The rebuilding helped spur Van Burens residential and commercial growth.
People who were living there moved to other subdivisions and rebuilt their destroyed or damaged homes. All the businesses on Rena Road and Highway 59 North that were damaged are built back. Sign Art was destroyed. Hales Truck Salvage they got rid of it. Its now Cedar Creek shopping center. And the growth since has kind of fed off the tornado rebuilding, Wells said.