Holly Springs hit hardest by East Texas twisters

By CATHY FRYE The Enterprise

HOLLY SPRINGS -- Emma Lawless, 84, had just finished watching ``Wheel of Fortune.'' She was rummaging in the kitchen for something to eat when the lights abuptly went out.

A loud roar followed, and, recalling the tornado warnings that had just flashed across her TV screen, the elderly, wheelchair-bound woman raced for a narrow hallway.

There, amid the flying debris, Lawless watched as a powerful tornado -- one of the worst to hit this area in 50 years -- peeled off the roof of her small brick home.

By the time the twister moved on, Lawless' wheelchair was wedged into a small triangular space formed by a hallway wall that now leaned against an upright bedroom wall.

``She said she was trapped there,'' said Connie Cropper, who is Lawless' niece. She pointed in amazement at what was left of her aunt's home. ``They had to crawl through the bedroom window to get her out.''

Cropper spent the night with her aunt, who was one of four people taken to the hospital after a tornado reaching speeds of 150-170 mph plowed through this small community around 7 p.m. Tuesday.

At least six homes were seriously damaged or destroyed, said Billy Ted Smith, the emergency coordinator for Jasper County. Twenty-five sustained at least minor damage, he added.

Of the Holly Springs residents who were taken to Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital, no one suffered life-threatening injuries. Most of the lacerations and bruises were caused by flying debris, Smith said.

Three residents of neighboring Newton County also were taken to the hospital Tuesday night after a second tornado touched down along Baptist Encampent Road. None of the injuries were serious, said Chief Deputy Ricky Hillin.

Two homes were destroyed and several were damaged, he added.

The tornados in both counties were the result of a cold front, which spawned at least seven twisters in East Texas in just a few short hours.

Holly Springs caught the brunt of the fury, however.

On Wednesday, Jasper County work crews began clearing the fallen trees and debris scattered across a 2-mile radius. At the center of the activity was the Holly Springs Baptist Church, where a Red Cross shelter had been set up.

The twister, which residents say arrived with little warning, apparently zig-zagged down Highway 190, tearing apart some houses while dealing only a glancing blow to others.

About 300 people live in this small community, seven miles east of Jasper. Many, stunned by their losses, turned to the old church not only for shelter, but for comfort. The Holly Springs Baptist congregation has been around since 1886, said the Rev. Greg Teel, and the same is true of many families here.

The Hood family was upset not only by the damage done to their home, which was speared by a neighbor's pine tree, but by the loss of several cherished pecan trees that had been planted by Patrick Hood's grandfather.

Patrick was at home alone with his two children when the twister hit. He had only a few minutes to grab 8-year-old Sterling and 4-year-old Lauren and head for the hallway, said Patrick's wife, Rebel Hood.

Rebel was in Lufkin with a grandfather who had just had surgery.

As soon as he reached the hallway, Patrick threw himself on top of the the children, fearing at one point that he would be yanked away by the suction of the swirling winds.

``He said it was just pulling at him and pulling at him,'' Rebel said. ``And it just terrified me when he told me that.''  Patrick and the children weren't injured and spent a good part of Wednesday hunting for a pet rabbit named ``Bugs.''

The family's horse and two dogs were out in the pasture when the twister hit but, miraculously, were unharmed, Rebel said, pointing at two indignant, barking pets.

A half-hour later, she and family members triumphantly announced that Bugs, too, had been found unhurt and was taking up temporary residence in the bathtub.

Most people here were without water, electricity or gas Wednesday, although workers were hoping most services would be restored sometime today.

For some, it will not matter, however. She and her husband had taken their two children along for a quick run to the store Tuesday evening when the tornado tore across Holly Springs.

On their way home, the couple stopped at a gas station, where a constable told them a twister had just destroyed several homes near the Holly Springs Baptist Church.

Fearing the worst, Jimmy and Bianca drove home. There, they found their mobile home had been ripped from its foundation, flung into a cluster of trees and completely shredded.

``We ran to town, came back and there it was,'' said Jimmy, who was searching through a tangle of Christmas decorations and a pile of tax forms for what might be salvageable. ``It was amazing.''

Bianca, who is from Germany, was stunned by the devastation. ``There aren't tornadoes there. Or hurricanes,'' she said, still marveling at how quickly everything could be lost.

She hasn't yet been able to explain what happened to her 4-year-old daughter, Rachel.

As her parents pulled into the driveway and then stared uncomprehendingly at the spot where their trailer once stood, the normally talkative Rachel sat in silence for a moment.

Then, having reached her own conclusions, she tugged at her mother's hand. ``Well, the house is gone,'' she announced. ``God moved it.''

Medelle Adams, 73, who has lived in Holly Springs for 50 years, was still disbelieving Wednesday morning, as she watched repairs being made to the small home she shares with her husband, Jim. ``We were sitting in the living room when the lights went off and the windows blew out. We got in the hall and closed all the doors. It didn't last but a few minutes,'' Medelle said.

``That's all the warning we had, that and this terrible roar. I've never even witnessed anything like this.''

Storm destroys 20 homes

By Ron Delhomme - Martin Bureau Editor

JEANERETTE - Greg Parker stood in the middle of Martin Luther King Drive Wednesday looking at his mobile home. The windows were gone, the trailer was tilted off its blocks, and sheets of tin from his roof were wrapped around limbs in pecan trees behind his home.

"It was like a bomb, a big explosion when it hit", Parker said of the storm system that moved through Acadiana late Tuesday, destroying about 20 homes in downtown Jeanerette and across the Bayou Teche.

"It lit up the whole trailer, glass started flying, then the trailer started to shake - and I hit the floor."

"In 10 seconds, it was over."

Residents like Parker who experienced the brunt of the storm say they think it was a tornado that did much of the damage, though officials could not confirm that.

Two Jeanerette residents suffered moderate head injuries during the storm, which knocked out power to about two-thirds of the city's 6,500 residents, cutting off the city's water supply and resulting in the cancellation of school.

"It was a miracle only two people were injured," said Becky Rogers, director of the Iberia Red Cross, on the scene Wednesday with about 30 volunteers.

In addition to the demolished homes, the storm caused major damage to about 35 homes and minor damage to about 50 others, according to Rogers. Red Cross volunteers formed three PDAs, their term for Preliminary Damage Assessment teams, to canvass about 30 square city blocks to look for damage and people who needed help.

Damage assessment to businesses in Jeanerette will begin after the residential toll is taken, Rogers said.

About a dozen crews from CLECO worked much of the day Wednesday to restore electricity. Crews from Entex were taking care of gas leaks. Fire departments and law enforcement agencies were out in force.

Around the workers were downed oak, cedar, magnolia and pine trees tangled in wiring from utility poles.

Jeanerette Police Chief Mannie Mendoza said traffic was becoming a problem in town. The Red Cross and Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office set up food wagons, command posts and other emergency vehicles in the parking lot of a supermarket on Main Street, across from City Hall, about 15 blocks from the major damage.

"Sightseers just riding by are causing a problem," Mendoza said. "We're asking that everybody stay home and let the people work."

More than 200 people had been served breakfast and lunch from a Red Cross truck by early afternoon. Volunteers from Iberia and Lafayette parishes handed out sandwiches, coffee, water and quot;comfort foodquot; like cookies and snacks.

Other volunteers were talking to victims who had no place to sleep Wednesday night. Many were reluctant to leave their damaged homes.

"My home was hit bad,", one man said, "but I think we can sleep in it tonight."

Sidney Vilo Jr. lost shingles shudders and trees in his backyard.

"It rained for 5 minutes then it started to hail and then there was a big clap and the power went off and then it hit."

Vilo said the worst of the storm lasted no more than a minute.

Emergency shelters will be announced Thursday, according to the Red Cross. The King Joseph Recreation Center and the Ward 8 Recreation Center are possible shelters, according to Jeanerette Mayor James "T.K." Alexander Sr.

Tornadic winds also destroyed at least one home in Krotz Springs in east St. Landry Parish.

In north Louisiana, high wind ripped the roof off the Ouachita Parish High School gymnasium Tuesday night, canceling a playoff game between the Slidell and Ouachita boys' basketball teams. Two people were injured but not severely.

Scattered power outages around the state affected thousands of people. Repairs were under way soon after the fast-moving storms were gone and most had power back by morning.

Storm damages Krotz Springs area

By PHILLIP de VALCOURT

Staff Writer

The storms that blew through St. Landry Parish Tuesday night seemed to hit Krotz Springs with a vengeance.

Ronald Guidry, a firefighter-operator with the Krotz Springs Fire Department said one house had been blown off its supporting blocks and its roof had been torn off.

Guidry also said two trailer houses were knocked off their blocks. A metal-framed cabinet shop was, as Guidry put it, "completely demolished."

Guidry also said that several structures in the area six miles south of Krotz Springs suffered roof damage.

"Our main goal was to make sure the occupants were safe. It's really amazing - considering the damage - that no one was injured," Guidry said.

Tim Erickson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said he had confirmed reports of high winds in the Krotz Springs area but could not give any further details Wednesday morning because a crew had just been dispatched from Lake Charles to determine wind speed and possible tornadic activity.