Homes damaged during storm
An uprooted tree blocks one side of the driveway on the Travis Walker propery on Lott Smith Road in southern Copiah County.
The two homes are located on Lott Smith Road south of Sylvarena Road-about 5 miles from the city limits of Wesson-where high winds ripped the roof off of one and destroyed a shed at another. The home of Jerrie Bland suffered major roof damage when the tornado-warned cell blew through the area. Bland was at home when the winds picked up and lifted the roof off. She suffered no injuries, but her nerves were more than a little rattled.
Just 100 yards up the road from the Bland place, a shed covering a travel trailer was destroyed on the property of Travis Walker, and his home suffered damage. Walker and his wife were viewing storm coverage on television when the warning went out. He walked to the back door of his home and saw rain “swirling around in pasture.” That’s when he took action.
“I ran and got my wife, and we took shelter in the laundry room. In just a few seconds, the winds hit, sucking the ceiling down in my house and destroying my shed. It was over pretty quickly,” Walker said.
Walker said the roof of his house was compromised, and a the wind blew open a steel double-door on a barn next to the home that hadn’t been opened in ten years. “The wind sucked one door inside the barn and blew out the double doors,” Walker said.
Metal roofing from the shed that once covered his travel trailer was wrapped around trees close to 100 yards away from the home. A large older tree was uprooted and blocked the driveway. Pieces of debris were scattered all over the yard. But, no one was injured.
“We are so glad that we are okay. We can’t replace a life, but we can always build things back,” Walker said, still rattled some 14 hours later, as light snow was blown around on this windy, blustery day after temperatures had reached the mid-70s the day before.
Several trees were blown over in the area as the storm moved through around 4:30 p.m. Crews worked to remove the debris from Lott Smith and Sylvarena and to pull tarps over the damaged homes well into the night.
