Hadley Twp.- Debria Meadows arrived at her Gregory Road home just three minutes before a tornado showed up the evening of Aug. 24.
In the house, her grandson Damian, 13, had the news on in the kitchen and was getting flashlights. Outside, the rain looked like bullets and had no slant. She yelled for Damian to forget the flashlights and get in the crawl space of their tri-level.
‘It sounded like a train was coming,? Meadows said Monday, as she sat on her deck and looked over to a pile of rubble where she and husband Lee’s pole barn used to stand.
According to the National Weather Service, the EF1 tornado, with maximum winds of 110 mph, touched down at about 6:16 p.m., cutting a path 4 miles across Hadley Township (from one-half mile SW of Gregory and Brigham roads to one-half mile west of Pratt and Herd road intersection).
Meadows grabbed the family’s dog, a 10-year-old shepherd named Sam, and got into the crawl space with her grandson while she talked frantically on the phone to Lee, who was driving home.
‘I told him I could hear the house creaking, and then I felt it moving,? she said. ‘Things were breaking ing and hitting the house and I just kept saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.??
Lee, who was driving home in rain so torrential he couldn’t see, knew it was a tornado.
‘She was hysterical, and I was trying to calm her down,? he said. ‘I was thankful I was still talking to her. She wanted to hang up the phone, but I told her, ‘You do not hang up the phone.??
Meadows recalls her ears popping and then, silence.
‘There was all that commotion, and then instant nothing,? she said. ‘That was the scariest part, the dead silence.?
Lee, still on the phone, told her to open the crawl space door and see if they still had a house.
They did.
What they no longer had was their pole barn, a 130-year-old hickory tree in their back yard, and, a bedroom ceiling. In the master bedroom, fiberglass insulation is shredded and drywall is in pieces, covering their bed and the floor. Above is a clear view of roof trusses.
Debria and Lee believe the wind came up under the eaves and annihilated the ceiling, but left the roof intact.
‘I keep wanting to say, ‘Excuse the house, it looks like a tornado went through it,?? she says, laughing, then, ‘I guess now I have an excuse.?
Outside, the pole barn and hickory tree were not the only damage. The Meadows? television antenna had ‘bit the dust,? as Debria puts it, and, sticking out of the back window of the car she had driven home just minutes before, was part of a pine tree.
‘It’s a helluva way to bring a Christmas tree home, isn’t it?? she asks.
Across the road, Mark Shephard has his own harrowing tale.
‘I pulled in the driveway, and as soon as I stopped my car, it started rocking,? he said. ‘I made a break for the house and the wind got me.?
Shephard was between the house and a detached garage. Suddenly it was completely dark and he was being hit by shingles from the garage. He recalls the trees were bent at a 90-degree angle. He tried to make his way over to the shed.
‘The rain was intense and it was so dark, I couldn’t see anything,? he said. ‘The shed wall was bowing, I though it was going to explode.?
Suddenly, the wind stopped. Shephard said it was still raining, but got bright. He looked down at his watch to see what time it was, only to discover he had lost it in the storm. His niece would find the watch in the yard the next day while cleaning debris.
The Shephards? home fared well, but their trees did not? many were mowed down, including a Crimson King maple that was planted to commemorate Linda and Wayne’s 15th anniversary, 29 years ago.
Steve and Robin Mitchell’s home, where they live with their three children, may have endured the worst damage in the neighborhood. The family was not home at the time the storm struck, but their dog Darby was.
Steve, who teaches theater at Goodrich High School, says the family came home when their neighbors called and told them that their pole barn and garage were gone.
They arrived perhaps a half-hour later, to see debris strewn everywhere, the south side of their home in shambles, precious photos and memorabilia previously stored in the pole barn, gone.
Their dog, whom they now jokingly call ‘Toto,? was unharmed. They believe the dog was lifted outside by the wind through their daughter’s bedroom window, which was left open. That open window may have kept their house from exploding, Steve has been told.
They are grateful for what truly matters, the family and friends who are helping them put their life back together.
‘To me, God is telling us, ‘thanks for all you’ve done,?? said Robin. ‘He’s showing us how many friends we have and how our community and family are there for us.?