‘I ran and hid under the jeep as the top started to come off the building,’ said Randy Jones
HUGHES SPRINGS, Texas — It’s like a scene out of a movie – houses turned upside down, trees toppled over like toothpicks, and structures crushed like an aluminum can. Hughes Springs took a direct hit by a possible tornado Friday night. City Hall, the volunteer fire department, and homes were all damaged. One of those homes belonged to Jodi Taylor, who says she felt their camper hit the side of the house.
“I felt things hitting the house,” Taylor said. “I mean I heard things hit the house, I heard glass breaking. And I just held a pillow over my head, and I prayed, and I prayed, and God got me through that.”
Next door to her house is the Hughes Springs Volunteer Fire Department which suffered significant damage.
“When we were out looking, one of our firemen said our station had been hit,” said Jay Cates, Hughes Springs Fire Chief.
Pictures that were sent to CBS19 show the roof is gone. And as the firefighters there were getting ready to help with damage in Dangerfield, one of their firefighters was caught in the middle of it all.
“And he was shutting the front door because of the rain and the gust of wind just picked up.” said Cates.
That firefighter was Randy Jones.
“I ran and hid under the jeep as the top started to come off the building. Hid under there until it went by,” said Jones.
And the fear of not coming out alive was shared with everyone who experienced the same feeling,
“I wasn’t going through live through this, it was pretty rough,” said Jones.
“I didn’t know if my house was going to fall on me. I really, I really felt one time it might,” said Taylor.
And despite the hardships, this catastrophe is bringing a close-knit community even closer, “Right now we’re just trying to salvage what we can and find a new location,” said Cates.
“I’m humbled by our community, my friends, my neighbors, just everyone has come out,” said Taylor. Everyone, including big and small.
The National Weather Service will survey damage from this possible tornado in Hughes Spring on Sunday.