Three months after an EF-3 tornado touched down in Oak Grove destroying homes and damaging properties, the community is continuing to clean up the damage— including the Oak Grove Cemetery.
“Hundreds of headstones were not just toppled over but some of them were thrown ten feet,” said Mark Brady, who lives in Oak Grove.
When the tornado hit Oak Grove this year, many headstones at the city's cemetery were damaged & toppled... trees splintered pic.twitter.com/jN2i2NVt39
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) May 29, 2017
But on Memorial Day, minimal damage could be seen.
“I see how much work that has been done to make this look beautiful. There is a lot more work that needs to be done, there is still a lot of tombstones the need to be [fixed] but how beautiful to get things done today,” said Vickie Smith, whose family is buried at the cemetery.
There are still a lot more markers and towers that need to be repaired. You can even see debris still tangled in brush pic.twitter.com/5zf5OkaCxm
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) May 29, 2017
Volunteers from Oak Grove and surrounding communities helped pick up the toppled headstones and temporarily place them on wooden slates. The goal— make sure the markers, including the veterans memorial, were standing tall for Memorial Day.
“It means a lot to us,” said Brady, who is a veteran and whose daughter is buried at the cemetery.
