VILONIA, AR – The City of Vilonia is remembering people who died in that devastating tornado on this day last year. They also applaud the families and the community’s resilience and resolve to move forward.
Last year, a family lost everything in the storm. Every person in the Riddle family was home when the EF-4 tornado took our their house. The mother, buried in the bricks broke her hip and suffered a concussion.
Her 11-year-old son was also injured.
But as devastating as that Sunday evening was, the Riddle family says they felt they needed to visit their old neighborhood in order to move on.
“You don’t know what the future holds, so you make sure that you tell your loved ones that you love them, that everybody knows how you feel about them,” says mother Melissa Riddle.
As for hundreds of people who attended the service Monday night, the feeling is mutual.
Last year, a family lost everything in the storm. Every person in the Riddle family was home when the EF-4 tornado took our their house. The mother, buried in the bricks broke her hip and suffered a concussion.
Her 11-year-old son was also injured.
But as devastating as that Sunday evening was, the Riddle family says they felt they needed to visit their old neighborhood in order to move on.
“You don’t know what the future holds, so you make sure that you tell your loved ones that you love them, that everybody knows how you feel about them,” says mother Melissa Riddle.
As for hundreds of people who attended the service Monday night, the feeling is mutual.