Looking for luck: RV Park residents search find hope following EF3 tornado
Jennifer Crockett
Michelle Wright and her boyfriend Tim Smith's home in Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent has been reduced to a pile of rubble. The couple had just arrived home, when Tuesday's EF3 tornado hit.She remembers the 140-mile-per-hour winds tossing their RV from its foundation into the trees. "The walls came off. The floors started to come off," said Wright. "And then we were just kind of spinning. We landed and he told me to be still just in case it wasn't done."They dig through what's left Thursday, still thankful to be alive."So, it's pretty crazy, but we're very lucky to be alive."Other residents who survived the storm are looking for luck too. Paige Wells, just found her mother's two dogs, Blackjack and Bandit."That one was underneath the trailer for about three days," Wells said. "This one, nobody could catch him really."Wells flew in from California, after she getting word that her mother was critically injured in the storm. Her mother's neck was broken when her RV flipped. She remains in critical condition, but regained consciousness today for the first time since the tornado."And then her waking up and stuff like that and then finding her dogs," Wells said. "I mean, it's going to mean everything to her. I can't wait to go back to the hospital and tell her they're alive."St. James Sheriff Willy Martin says the destruction is worse here that in any storm he has ever seen."We've had our share of storms, with the Gustav's and the Katrina's and all those types of storms, Sheriff Martin said. "We've had damage from those storms more spread around, but we never had this kind of destruction when we experienced those particular storms."The damage is not limited to Sugar Hill RV Park. On neighboring streets, brick homes were also destroyed."There were a lot of people seriously injured," Sheriff Martin said. "We're very fortunate, when you look at the destruction here that we had only two fatalities."David Swann, 59, from Satsuma, Alabama died on the way to the hospital. Scott Ellis,51, from Brevard, North Carloina died at the RV Park.After walking away from this deadly storm, Michelle and her boyfriend Tim are looking forward to a much brighter future, together."I really do believe that he saved my life," Wright said. "I was telling people that my friend Jenn said 'Well I think you've got her locked down now.' So yeah, probably."
Michelle Wright and her boyfriend Tim Smith's home in Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent has been reduced to a pile of rubble. The couple had just arrived home, when Tuesday's EF3 tornado hit.
She remembers the 140-mile-per-hour winds tossing their RV from its foundation into the trees. "The walls came off. The floors started to come off," said Wright. "And then we were just kind of spinning. We landed and he told me to be still just in case it wasn't done."
They dig through what's left Thursday, still thankful to be alive.
"So, it's pretty crazy, but we're very lucky to be alive."
Other residents who survived the storm are looking for luck too. Paige Wells, just found her mother's two dogs, Blackjack and Bandit.
"That one was underneath the trailer for about three days," Wells said. "This one, nobody could catch him really."
Wells flew in from California, after she getting word that her mother was critically injured in the storm. Her mother's neck was broken when her RV flipped. She remains in critical condition, but regained consciousness today for the first time since the tornado.
"And then her waking up and stuff like that and then finding her dogs," Wells said. "I mean, it's going to mean everything to her. I can't wait to go back to the hospital and tell her they're alive."
St. James Sheriff Willy Martin says the destruction is worse here that in any storm he has ever seen.
"We've had our share of storms, with the Gustav's and the Katrina's and all those types of storms, Sheriff Martin said. "We've had damage from those storms more spread around, but we never had this kind of destruction when we experienced those particular storms."
The damage is not limited to Sugar Hill RV Park. On neighboring streets, brick homes were also destroyed.
"There were a lot of people seriously injured," Sheriff Martin said. "We're very fortunate, when you look at the destruction here that we had only two fatalities."
David Swann, 59, from Satsuma, Alabama died on the way to the hospital. Scott Ellis,51, from Brevard, North Carloina died at the RV Park.
After walking away from this deadly storm, Michelle and her boyfriend Tim are looking forward to a much brighter future, together.
"I really do believe that he saved my life," Wright said. "I was telling people that my friend Jenn said 'Well I think you've got her locked down now.' So yeah, probably."