--- title: Obama Speaks to Arkansas Tornado Survivors in Vilonia description: President Barack Obama toured areas in Arkansas on Wednesday that were destroyed by forceful tornadoes in late April, promising support to residents: "Your country is going to be here for you" canonical: https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-07T20:07:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:42:40.845Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Speaks to Arkansas Tornado Survivors in Vilonia og:description: President Barack Obama toured areas in Arkansas on Wednesday that were destroyed by forceful tornadoes in late April, promising support to residents: "Your country is going to be here for you" og:url: https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49fe69133caf06b1/69868e50e53abadeed4d2779/obama-arkansas-tornado-21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3472 og:image:height: 1953 og:image:alt: Barack Obama Vilonia, Arkansas Tornado og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Speaks to Arkansas Tornado Survivors in Vilonia twitter:description: President Barack Obama toured areas in Arkansas on Wednesday that were destroyed by forceful tornadoes in late April, promising support to residents: "Your country is going to be here for you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49fe69133caf06b1/69868e50e53abadeed4d2779/obama-arkansas-tornado-21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama to Arkansas Tornado Survivors: Your Country Is Here For You > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 7, 2014 8:07 PM UTC  President Barack Obama tours tornado-damaged areas and talks with Daniel Smith and his sons Garrison Dority and Gabriel Dority in Vilonia, Ark. on May 7, 2014. President Barack Obama tours tornado-damaged areas and talks with Daniel Smith and his sons Garrison Dority and Gabriel Dority in Vilonia, Ark. on May 7, 2014.Susan Walsh—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 7, 2014 8:07 PM UTC President Obama told residents of an [Arkansas](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-tour-arkansas-tornado-devastation-23618188) town blasted by tornadoes in late April that the federal government will have their backs throughout the rebuilding process. “Your country is going to be here for you,” Obama said during a press conference Wednesday. The President spent Wednesday touring areas destroyed by severe weather including Vilonia, Ark. just outside of Little Rock. The[ April 27 storms](http://time.com/81008/photos-arkansas-tornadoes-aftermath/) killed 15 and left hundreds of homes ruined. On Wednesday, Obama praised the people of Arkansas for their strength in his promises to provide support. “Folks here are tough,” Obama said. “They look out for one another … that’s been especially true this past week.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/"},"headline":"Obama to Arkansas Tornado Survivors: Your Country Is Here For You","datePublished":"2014-05-07T20:07:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:42:40.845Z","description":"President Barack Obama toured areas in Arkansas on Wednesday that were destroyed by forceful tornadoes in late April, promising support to residents: \"Your country is going to be here for you\"","url":"https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/","keywords":["Environment","Barack Obama","White House","Arkansas","natural disaster","Tornadoes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49fe69133caf06b1/69868e50e53abadeed4d2779/obama-arkansas-tornado-21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49fe69133caf06b1/69868e50e53abadeed4d2779/obama-arkansas-tornado-21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama Vilonia, Arkansas Tornado","caption":"Barack Obama Vilonia, Arkansas Tornado","creditText":"Susan Walsh—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/91413/barack-obama-arkansas-tornado-survivors/","name":"Obama to Arkansas Tornado Survivors: Your Country Is Here For You"}}]}] ```