100-year-old home shelters family keepsakes from tornado
By
Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Mar 19, 2021 1:08 PM EDT
One woman who survived an EF-2 tornado in Chilton County, Alabama, on March 17, said the storm shoved her century-old home off a concrete slab.
In a community near Billingsley, Alabama, a 100-year-old home sits off its foundation, the roof stripped from the building and its windows shattered. Still, the home, an heirloom in itself to the Cox family, remains more or less standing.
Tina Cox's home has been in her family for a century, holding precious things from memories to heirlooms when a tornado raced through her rural community on Wednesday. It was the same tornado that was found to have wrought EF-2-level damage in Chilton County, Alabama, and the first Cox had experienced.
Tina Cox's home, which had been in the family for 100 years, endured the tornado that tore through Chilton County, Alabama, on Wednesday. (Bill Wadell)
"I watched it come across the field and spit out a tree, and I said, 'Oh no, I can't stay,'" Cox told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. "By the time I got to my brother's, it had done hit my car, my windows exploded in the car."
Cox recounted her nephew having to reach out and pull her into the house just before the tornado hit.
"[As] soon as he shut the door, it [the tornado] blew out the whole garage door," she said.
While Tina Cox's home was left standing, it was still heavily damaged during the tornado. (Bill Wadell)
While the intense winds pummeled the area, tossing and churning around debris and leveling homes, Cox's small home was hardly spared. However, while it had been lifted and torn from the concrete slab that served as its foundation, its contents jostled around, it still remains standing.
Tina Cox looks over the family photos that survived after a tornado struck her community and tore into her home. (Bill Wadell)
Inside its stubborn walls, it holds a variety of family keepsakes from old photos to Tina's Bible.
"We were very lucky," Tina said, telling Wadell that she is hopeful that crews will be able to salvage parts of her home so she can rebuild and stay near her family.
Reporting by Bill Wadell.
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News / Severe Weather
100-year-old home shelters family keepsakes from tornado
By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Mar 19, 2021 1:08 PM EDT
One woman who survived an EF-2 tornado in Chilton County, Alabama, on March 17, said the storm shoved her century-old home off a concrete slab.
In a community near Billingsley, Alabama, a 100-year-old home sits off its foundation, the roof stripped from the building and its windows shattered. Still, the home, an heirloom in itself to the Cox family, remains more or less standing.
Tina Cox's home has been in her family for a century, holding precious things from memories to heirlooms when a tornado raced through her rural community on Wednesday. It was the same tornado that was found to have wrought EF-2-level damage in Chilton County, Alabama, and the first Cox had experienced.
Tina Cox's home, which had been in the family for 100 years, endured the tornado that tore through Chilton County, Alabama, on Wednesday. (Bill Wadell)
"I watched it come across the field and spit out a tree, and I said, 'Oh no, I can't stay,'" Cox told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. "By the time I got to my brother's, it had done hit my car, my windows exploded in the car."
Cox recounted her nephew having to reach out and pull her into the house just before the tornado hit.
"[As] soon as he shut the door, it [the tornado] blew out the whole garage door," she said.
While Tina Cox's home was left standing, it was still heavily damaged during the tornado. (Bill Wadell)
While the intense winds pummeled the area, tossing and churning around debris and leveling homes, Cox's small home was hardly spared. However, while it had been lifted and torn from the concrete slab that served as its foundation, its contents jostled around, it still remains standing.
Tina Cox looks over the family photos that survived after a tornado struck her community and tore into her home. (Bill Wadell)
Inside its stubborn walls, it holds a variety of family keepsakes from old photos to Tina's Bible.
"We were very lucky," Tina said, telling Wadell that she is hopeful that crews will be able to salvage parts of her home so she can rebuild and stay near her family.
Reporting by Bill Wadell.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo