23-04-2025
Tornado damages cemetery in Lonoke County
LONOKE COUNTY, Ark. – Community members in Lonoke County are picking up the pieces after a portion of the Sixteenth Section Cemetery was destroyed in the path of an EF-1 tornado on Easter Sunday.
The Lonoke Sheriff's Office said that on Sunday at around 7 p.m., they got reports of tornado damage in the area of the Sixteenth Section community.
'It's a disaster,' Lonoke County community cleans up damage from Sunday tornado
There were no injuries or deaths, but there was reported damage to the cemetery, power lines, homes and other structures.
Jacque Sumler, the groundskeeper for the cemetery, said many of her family members are buried there. Some of their burial sites are in the hardest hit areas of the cemetery, where large trees toppled over.
'It's all near and dear to all of our hearts, and it just killed us,' Sumler said.
Sumler said for decades she and her husband have taken care of the burial sites, which some date back to the 1800s. Her thoughts are not just on her family that was impacted by the damage, but others as well.
'There's been several families already out here picking up sticks, doing what they can, of course,' Sumler said. 'Some of the monuments are so heavy to pick up.'
Sumler said people from the community are working together to clean up some of the damage and help the cemetery recover, which she is grateful for. She said it's a place that brings peace.
'From seeing my parents, my grandparents, people I know, to people I grew up with, it is just a nice feeling to let them know they haven't been forgotten, and they are being taken care of,' she said.
National Weather Service confirms EF-1 tornado during Sunday storm
Sumler said, despite all of the damage, they will recover and fix the cemetery to how it was before.
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