Friday's Internet Edition, July 30, 2010.
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| With amazing fury, a tornado wrecked this home off Frye Bridge Road. Because residents heeded TV news warnings to seek cover, there were no serious injuries. A woman and her two infants had to be helped out of the rubble of their home |
The Clemmons Courier
- A powerful tornado touched down in the Frye Bridge Road area Thursday night, tossing trees and smashing homes. Nobody was seriously injured, and neighbors rushed to help the victims, even pulling two children and their mother trapped — but unhurt — in the rubble of their home.
The dawn on Friday morning revealed a disaster zone, and most residents were still in shock, displaying shaky nerves, trembling voices and tears.
David Flanigan, 43, on Gray Cliff Road, thought he had lost his van. It was thrown on its top in the street 50 feet away.
“It sounded just like a freight train coming just like they say it does,” Flanigan said.
It got so loud, and the wind got so intense.”
Joel Boyles on nearby Gray Cliff Drive said his home had no damage, but his family heard the noise. They huddled together with their pets inside for protection.
On Moss Creek Lane, Benny Ellis was one of dozens of people recovering from the nightmare.
“I just got out of the bed in time to get downstairs,” he said. “That’s all I remember until I saw the roof coming off and the sheet rock falling. Everybody made it out. Nobody got hurt. None of my neighbors got hurt.”
His neighbor’s home was destroyed, nothing left by the concrete slab. “There was a woman and two babies over there in the house that was completely leveled,” he said.
Boyles called a neighbor, Winston-Salem city policeman Mark Atwood for help.