Gentry resident loses childhood memory in Decatur tornado
DECATUR, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Ladale Clayton was one of the many people in Northwest Arkansas to have a run-in with the tornadoes that ripped through Benton County early Sunday morning.
Clayton, a Gentry resident, said she continued to see a funnel cloud dip toward the ground and retract into the sky. When she noticed the tornado had reached a certain point, she knew it hit her grandparents’ home.
Clayton, along with about 10 others, was at Decatur Mini Storage along Highway 59 in Decatur around 3 a.m., surveying the damage.
“My childhood’s gone,” Clayton said when seeing the destruction to her grandparents’ home. “I don’t know anything different.”
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Clayton said she was fearful for the sunrise because the darkness of the early morning hours hid most of the scattered remains of the property.
“I’ve got friends that actually live on the back side and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got some of your stuff back here,'” Clayton said.
While she described some of the items that were rag-dolled around the lot as “just stuff,” she still holds the memories of her youth close to her — despite the physical property not serving as an identical reminder.
“When she would get on to me and make me pick rocks up in that field back there,” Clayton said. “Or getting off the school bus every day and coming here to hang out with her. Or her to babysit. There’s all kinds of memories. We’ve had family get-togethers since I was little here.”
Her grandparents made it to safety and are OK, picking up and heading to Gravette before the tornado steam-rolled Decatur.
Clayton said events like this remind everyone the importance of heeding severe weather warnings, something that may have saved her grandparents’ lives.
“If your phone goes off, get up,” Clayton said. “Just get up and go. You just don’t know when it’s going to be the real one.”
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