7 months ago
Severe storms ripped through parts of Wilcox County Friday night, and leveled one mobile home and damaged a two-story house.
Homeowners say they experienced a thunderstorm and strong winds, but the National Weather Service has not yet determined if it was a tornado.
Jan Crawford says she will never forget the storm she and her husband Jimmy experienced at their Rochelle home Friday night.
She says the windows started breaking, and she tried to get up and get to the hall. She says the wind was forceful and it was coming through the house. She says she could not stand up, so she just had to squat in the hallway and hold on to the door until it got through.
With chairs, blankets, and debris spread across the yard, Crawford says she's grateful she and her husband were safe on the other side of the house that suffered far less destruction.
She says they have worked so hard to have everything that they have, but in another sense it's just a miracle that they both were not hurt. She says everything else is gone but it can be replaced.
About a half mile away, a mobile home was also destroyed from the storms.
Wilcox County EMA Director Larry Brown says those two were the only major damages reported from the storm.
Brown, a cousin of Jan Crawford, says he is thankful no one was hurt in the storm.
He says it is amazing what the winds can do. He says they can build everything properly to code, but when Mother Nature wants to take over, she does her job.
Jan Crawford says it is hard to look at her home of 16 years in shambles.
But she says they will rebuild, though they have not decided if it will be on the same property.
Jan Crawford says she and her husband will stay with relatives until they can evaluate the damage.
She says she is thankful for everyone in the community who has come out to help them clean up.
She says in 2007, a tornado came through and destroyed the dairy farm and car port on their property.
EMA Director Larry Brown says he's still waiting for the National Weather Service to determine if a tornado touched down in Wilcox County Friday night.
