Diaz, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — March 17, 2025 — For Ryan Cloud and his family, Friday night started like any other.

Cloud, feeling under the weather, had taken medication earlier in the day and gone to bed early. What he didn’t anticipate was being jolted awake by the sound of what he first thought was hail—but was, in fact, the beginnings of a tornado that would tear through his neighborhood.

“I went to bed around 7:45,” Cloud said. “I wasn’t even thinking about storms. Then I woke up to what sounded like hail, but then the wind—it was like we were inside a wind tunnel. I knew we had to move.”

With little time to react, Cloud and his wife, Tiffanie, scrambled to get their two young children to the storm shelter inside their home. They only managed to take a few steps before windows shattered, glass flying as the storm bore down on them.

“We have a storm shelter in the living room closet, but we didn’t even have time to get to it,” he said. “If God hadn’t woken us up, we’d be dead.”

The tornado passed within seconds, after which Cloud took stock of his own family’s safety before receiving a frantic phone call from his friend, Tim, who was out of state at the time. Tim had gotten a call from the Davenport family, who lived about 200 yards away on the property next door. Seven members of that family were trapped in their storm shelter beneath what was left of their home.

“Tim called me and said, ‘They’re trapped. The house fell in on them,’” Cloud said. “I asked him what room they were in, and he told me they were in the storm cellar, but they could smell smoke and gas. I told him, ‘I’ll be there in three minutes.’”

Running through the wreckage, Cloud arrived to find the house reduced to rubble. He said he really couldn’t even tell where the house was. Other neighbors quickly joined him, and together, they began digging through the debris, searching for the family.

“I started yelling, ‘Keep talking! We’re getting closer!’” Cloud said. “Finally, I heard them holler back. They had drilled small holes for air, and we knew they were alive.”

It took about 15 minutes to clear enough debris to reach them. All seven people inside the storm shelter were rescued without serious injuries.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, the work began. Jerry Walker, who owns a scrapyard and farm in the area, arrived at dawn with a team of workers and heavy machinery. They worked tirelessly for over two days, removing debris and helping neighbors salvage what they could.

“The Walkers—Jason, and their whole crew—showed up with front loaders, excavators, trucks, everything,” Cloud said. “They just went to work nonstop. It looked like an army of organized ants. You wouldn’t believe how much debris was moved in two days.”

The selflessness of the Walkers and other community members left a lasting impact on Cloud.

“They didn’t want money. They said if anyone gave them money, they’d just pass it along to someone else who needed it more,” he said. “That’s the kind of people they are.”

Now, as the cleanup continues, Cloud has been hauling debris, preparing for insurance adjusters, and trying to make sense of what comes next.

“I’ve never been through this process before,” he said. “But we’ll figure it out. Right now, we’re just grateful to be alive and thankful for the people who stepped up to help.”

With a population of just over 1,000, Diaz is a small town—but its heart is anything but. For Cloud, his message to those who helped is simple but heartfelt:

“Thank you. I can never thank you enough. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you.”