Tornado slams Poynor
No injuries reported as residents begin clean-up

Wanda Nichols Photo THE CORNER OF PINE & LOVERS LANE -- A northbound tornado touched down in the city of Poynor Friday evening leaving devastation in its wake. Huge trees were uprooted, rooves were torn from their buildings, tin was tossed around like old rags, buildings were literally lifted from their foundations and scattered.

Residents of the Poynor community began the new year cleaning up the devastation left behind by a tornado that touched down Friday night. Hit hardest were the areas of Pine and Elm Streets and Lover’s Lane.

Kathie Sides, who lives with her husband Pct. 4 Deputy Constable Buzz Sides, at the corner of Farm-to-Market Road 315 and Lover’s Lane said their home and saddle shop were barely touched, but the tornado wreaked havoc all around.

“We’ve had a massive clean up in the last two days,” she said Monday afternoon. “It’s remarkable we haven’t needed one band-aid, but it’s just total devastation.”

People from all over the area arrived Saturday morning to help with the clean up. However, the community has a ways to go. The tornado is believed to have touched down on what locals call Sugar Mountain, then jumped State Highway 175 hurling 90-100 mile-per-hour winds as it moved northward, slamming down again on Pine Street.

Wanda Nichols Photo TOTAL DEVASTATION -- A rental home and upholstery shop owned by Robert Magee on Farm-to-Market Road 315 was completely destroyed by the tornado before moving on.

Without rhyme or reason, buildings were lifted from their foundations and dropped, or scattered over acres of residential and pasture areas. Front and back porches were blown off homes. Two mobile homes were moved off their blocks.

Sheets of tin were torn from roofs, sheds, barns, and other buildings, and tossed up into the tree tops like torn rags. Insulation clung to broken tree limbs like huge, dirty snow flakes. Trees as big as four feet in diameter were blown over, some blocking the roadway and trapping motorists during the storm. Whole buildings, awnings and pieces of buildings are missing.

While some homes were nearly destroyed, others weren’t touched.

“It hit Miss Clayton’s barn first,” Mrs. Sides said. “Then it came across 175. Jesse Moore had just built some new storage buildings. It took out a whole row of those and carried it down the street.”

Pieces of the storage building were found as far away as JP Pct. 4 Sue Tarrant’s office. The tornado appears to have moved on northward up FM 315 through the Fincastle area.

Mr. Moore’s wife, Virginia, said she is certain the tornado came through at 6:26 p.m. While her husband saw the tornado approaching from their porch, she received a phone call warning a tornado was headed in their direction. The couple immediately took cover in a closet.

“I took my Bible and flashlight, ” she said. “We felt the suction, and he (Jesse) was pulling me down. When it hit it felt like one of those wooden roller coasters going right over us. What I prayed for was to be calm and no one get hurt. And I stayed calm and no one was hurt.”

Mrs. Charlene Stanley, who lives on Pine St. said she opened her front door and heard a roaring sound.

“Then I slammed the door and locked it,” she said. “Everything happened so fast there was no time to do anything. When it was over with I looked outside and it was so scary. It was pitch black here. I couldn’t see anything.”

At dawn the next morning, Mrs. Stanley found the tornado had dropped most of Mr.

Moore’s storage building in her front yard. Her home had also experienced extensive damage; however, she was safe.

“We are so, so, so fortunate, ” Mrs. Stanley said.

Less than half a mile north on FM 315 a rental home, upholstery shop, and barn owned by Robert Magee was completely destroyed.

“I lost two cows when a tree fell on them,” he said. “It tore up lots of other stuff, too. The carport on my house, and trees everywhere you look. It was a rough 7-10 minutes. I can tell you that.”

Just across from Magee’s place, the home of 93-yearold Milton “Chicken” Butler, the oldest man in town, was severely damaged by trees blown over on his house. Volunteer crews from area churches are currently working to clean up and repair the damage to Mr. Butler’s home.

Some residents, who had gone out of town for the holidays returned home early Monday morning to find their home damaged by the tornado.

“It lifted up Melody Bristow’s carport and washroom and set it down on her neighbor’s fence,” Mrs. Sides said. “They also have a lot of water damage.”

The tornado knocked down a long row of trees alongside Bobby Daily’s home on Lover’s Lane as if they were a row of dominoes.

While volunteer crews arrived to help clear the blocked roadways and remove fallen trees from homes, others converged on the Poynor Civic Center with food, drinks, and water for the storm victims. Saturday morning, the Red

Cross arrived offering assistance to those displaced residents. Mrs. Sides rode doorto door on her 4-wheeler to check on people, and took water and soda to anyone in need.

Many curious motorists drove through the already narrow streets prompting officials to block the roadway to reduce traffic to allow for a safer cleanup.

Only a few residents are still without electricity and gas.

“We mainly need someone to come in and haul off this metal or grind up the trees for free,” Mrs. Sides said. “That would be the best thing because there are so many here without insurance.”

Those with insurance became disheartened when all they got was a recording from their insurance companies saying their call would be returned on Tuesday. Many were uncertain how to handle the damage, but are managing.

“It’s brought a bunch of us to our knees where we need to be,” Mrs. Sides said. “It’s people pulling together helping people.”

Poynor Mayor Dannie Smith said she is most appreciative of those who turned out to help and brought food.

“We need labor, chainsaws and people with rebuilding skills,” she said. “We’re just blessed we didn’t lose any lives.”

A Poynor Disaster Relief Fund has been set up at the First State Bank in Frankston for anyone who would like to make monetary donations.

“We’re wounded but we’re not broken,” Mayor Smith said. “We’ll come back and it’ll be in ship shape.”