WAYNE COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) – Counties in the Pine Belt took a hit from Saturday’s severe weather. Several homes in Wayne County were damaged or destroyed.
People on Taylor’s Circle, just outside of Waynesboro, are beginning to clean up the mess after high winds ravaged their neighborhood.
“We got a warning and 60 seconds later, it was devastating. It’s the most devastating thing I’ve ever seen in my life. At my age, I’ve never seen anything like this, but I live to tell about it today,” said Shelton Henderson, whose home was destroyed during the storm.
Residents said the worst of the storm rolled in around 9:30 p.m., and they only had minutes to get to safety.
“The wind started to pick up and my wife said, ‘Hey, it’s starting to sound like a train.’ And I said, ‘Well if it sounds like a train, let’s get to the hall.’ And then we went into the hallway and that’s where we remained until things settled,” said Derrick Chambers, who helped clean up after the storm.
Wayne County Emergency Management reported that 10 to 15 homes suffered major damage. Another five to 10 homes were destroyed. Several vehicles were also damaged by fallen trees.
“I got water damage in my house. Plenty of limbs in my yard, pine tree limbs outside of my house roof, and everything is torn up just out of service. No electricity. I still don’t have any electricity. So, I’m living off a generator at the moment,” said Robert Ballard, whose home was damaged during the storm.
A mobile home was blown off of its cinder block foundation and tossed across the street to a neighbor’s yard, leaving behind a twisted pile of debris. Everyone made it out okay.
“There was a lot of debris that was coming. Busted the window out the top felt like somebody was driving nails in it, and it was just chaos. It was just you know, I looked out the window again. I saw this trailer across the road move into my driveway. And I came out, and I heard two girls hollering and screaming,” said Henderson.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is surveying the damage to determine if a tornado struck the area.