By Staff
Dec. 17, 2000
What happened at your house or place or work? E-mail smonk@
themeridianstar.com and let us know. We'll include the reports in Monday's edition of The Meridian Star. Here are some observations made by state and county officials, emergency workers, reporters and photographers on the scene Saturday.
Rescue workers and residents in Dalewood moved through a miasma of strong pine smell, the result of hundreds of pine trees being snapped, torn and uprooted.
Carol Eubanks, Russell Utility office worker
Trees lay scattered like broken toothpicks through the streets of the Dalewood Shores trailer park.
Two trailers in Dalewood, side by side, were cut into thirds by two large pine trees. One lay across a child's swing set, while the other landed on the top of a carport, crushing the two cars beneath.
Jim Stefkovich, National Weather Service
Lee Lauderdale, American Red Cross
Heavy rains poured down on Dalewood residents Saturday afternoon as they tried to make repairs to their damaged homes.
Neighbors pitched in to cut through downed trees on Willow Lake Road, and then moved on to help those affected in Dalewood.
Dalewood resident Kevin Bishop, whose mobile home was destroyed, has lived through three tornadoes two in Mobile, Ala., and one in Lost Gap. His home was not destroyed in any of the earlier twisters.
High winds knocked Kevin Bishop's dog, "Taz," to his knees and pushed him across the lawn.
A woman was seriously injured after her double-wide mobile home in Russell was tossed over another trailer, landing in a neighbor's back yard.
A pile of odd change lay on the ground behind Jellenc Construction Company, the building with perhaps the most damage in the Russell area.
Meridian Fire Chief Bunky Partridge
The Tommy Bailey home in Russell looked like a tornado hit from the inside out because when the storm hit, the family was preparing to leave town and had piled their belongings next to the front door.
A lone recliner, still in perfect condition, sat among the rubble where Jellenc Construction Company was once located.