While he saw footage of the disaster area left by Sunday’s tornados that struck parts of Davidson and Guilford counties on TV, seeing it in person left Coble struggling to find the words for those looking for answers. Coble toured the affected areas with High Point Mayor Becky Smothers Wednesday afternoon.
“You have to be here to see how big the disaster is,” Coble said. “I had no idea it was this bad. The people are still smiling and saying they’re lucky to be alive. That’s true, but I’ve still wept a time or two today.”
As Coble and Smothers went from one tattered neighborhood to another, the devastation only seemed to worsen. In Hampton Park, Coble stopped to speak with Dan Krawiec and his wife Carol, who were standing out front of what vaguely resembled their home. The second floor was all but gone as only cracked picture frames, a rocking chair and some dirty clothes remained. The Krawiec’s said they were watching the Duke basketball game on TV when reports started coming in of a tornado touching down near Highway 311 and Johnson Street.
“We had a lot of wind and rain and [the news] said a second one was on the way and heading down the same path,” Carol Krawiec said. “Dan heard that and went to the kitchen door and that’s when we heard the noise. He sort of pushed me in the room, shut the door and it started immediately.”
The couple huddled up in a pantry underneath the stairs as the tornado rolled by. Once the storm passed, the Krawiec’s came out and sensed the damage. Concern turned to fear when they realized a second floor bathtub fell on gas lines outside their once two-story home. Dan Krawiec asked Coble if there was any way the area could be declared a natural disaster and that this is a time when Americans need to help Americans.
“Anything you could do would be greatly appreciated,” Dan Krawiec told Coble. “A lot of times we have a stigma in this country that when an American needs help you’re lazy or something. That’s not the case.”
Coble’s final stop of the day was at 1100 Elmwood Ave. where one of his interns, Stephanie Blair, lives. The Blair’s residence looked like a model from a movie set. The front of the house looked normal at first glance. Upon closer inspection, what was left was anything but normal. The second story of the home actually turned nearly 180 degrees until the back part fell, sending Stephanie’s bedroom crashing to the ground. Stephanie wasn’t home when the storm hit, something her father is very thankful for.
“Stephanie’s room fell off the back of the house,” said Dan Blair, who was home alone with the family dog. “The tornado scooted the back of the house off. I thought ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die.’ It ran straight through us. There was a vacuum and it suffocated me. I heard something moving so I lifted my head up and the top of the house hit me in the head. I almost was decapitated. A pole from a trampoline came through the window and stuck into the headboard where my wife would’ve been sleeping.”
Coble said the Federal Emergency management Association is coming to view the destruction today and it will be up to Raleigh to initiate whether the area will be declared a natural disaster. Coble said he was amazed how positive the people all were and how determined they were to rebuild in the face of such devastation.
“It’s a nightmare and a disaster,” said Coble. “The city of High Point has handled it as well as it can be done.”
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.
Post a Comment
