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Storm Destroys McDavid Homes, No Serious Injuries
May 16, 2008
Valerie Lollie stood in the living room of her McDavid home about noon Thursday, her five year old daughter in a nearby bedroom. The rain had started, and the wind had picked up outside just a bit. Moments later, her daughter was screaming for help as the home’s roof began to lift away and windows exploded.
“It was bad,” Lollie told NorthEscambia from her heavily damaged living room. Her home was one of two in McDavid heavily damaged in severe weather, damaged to the point that the county says they are not livable.
“I heard this noise; it sounded like a tornado freight train coming,” she said. “Then the pictures fell off the walls, and glass shattered everywhere.”
“‘Mommy, mommy help me,’ is what I heard next,” she said. It was her frightened daughter Brianna screaming from the bedroom.
Neither Valerie or Brianna were severely injured as their home was damaged around them, other than Valerie suffered some cuts and scrapes from broken glass.
Ten people are homeless following Thursday afternoon’s McDavid storm. In all, the storm damaged seven houses, and lifted the roof off part of Watson’s Convenience Store. The damaged homes are all located near Watson’s, just across North Century Boulevard from the McDavid Volunteer Fire Department.
The American Red Cross is assisting those displaced by the storm with a place to stay for a few days.
“I don’t know what we are going to do next,” Lollie said. “We did not have any insurance.”
There were no serious injuries, McDavid Fire Chief Eric Gilmore said.
The National Weather Service is expected to visit the area on Friday to determine if the damage was caused by a minor tornado or straight line winds.
About 200 McDavid area homes lost power in the storm, but all were restored Thursday afternoon except for the heavily damaged homes.
For a photo gallery of the storm’s aftermath, click here.
Pictured above: Valerie Lollie in what remains of her living room at her McDavid home. Picture below: A view of the outside of the home as Escambia River Electric Cooperative workers work to restore power to the neighborhood. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos.
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