Schools Closed In Marion County, Polling Place Moved
posted November 15, 2007
Miraculously, no one was killed or critically injured when a tornado raked the small town of Kimball in Marion County just after 7 p.m. CST on Wednesday.
Six people went to a local hospital, and one of those was transported on to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga with non-life threatening injuries.
About 12 homes and buildings were so severely damaged that they likely will have to be demolished, officials said. The old fire hall at Kimball was taken down Thursday morning because it was made unstable by the storm that hit around 7:05 p.m. CST.
The town hall and the Kimball Baptist Church were among the damaged buildings.
The church was holding prayer meeting when the storm hit, and some girls who were in a classroom were hurt by flying glass and debris.
In a nearby subdivision, several homes were leveled.
Fred Dye said he took cover in a bathroom and "wound up out in the yard in the bathtub."
A neighbor who was bleeding from a gash to the forehead said he revisited the homesite and "I couldn't believe we made it. I'm very grateful for that."
Officials said the twister came over a nearby mountain, veered toward the town hall, then headed for Interstate 24. The freeway was closed for a time after the storm.
Marion County Schools and Richard Hardy School were closed Thursday.
The polling place at Kimball was moved to Jasper.
Winds in the storm were estimated at up to 130 miles per hour.
There were so many sightseers going to Kimball to view the damage that the road in front of the town hall was closed off at mid-morning.
Extensive damage could be seen on I-24 near the Kimball exit with a line of trees snapped as well as a number of directional signs knocked over.
Teri Jaudon said she was sitting in her X-Terra outside Kimball Baptist waiting for church to be over to pick up her son and daughter when she began "wondering about the weather." She said she had heard about a tornado warning for Marion County.
Ms. Jaudon said when the wind got much stronger and the lights went out in the church she got out of her vehicle and ran into the church. She said she used the light from her cellphone to lead her daughter and other girls in a class out into a hallway.
She said she heard a warning not to get close to a doorway, then she said there was a man holding the doors shut. She said later she was told that no man was nearby, but the men were meeting in the main sanctuary.
Ms. Jaudon said as the tornado was passing through, there was debris as well as pieces of glass flying. The end and sides of the church building near where the girls were in the classroom were lifted off.
She said afterwards "it was total chaos. There were screams and shouting. It was terrifying."
The boys were meeting in a parsonage building to the rear that was not damaged. The main sanctuary also remained intact.
Ms. Jaudon's X-Terra wound up on its side. Several other vehicles in the church parking lot were heavily damaged.
Chelsea Jaudon, 10, said when the power went out everyone ran out of the classroom. She said as the storm hit "I was holding onto my friend, Sidney. I pulled Sidney down."
Chelsea said, "It was very, very scary. We did not know what was happening. We just knew we wanted to get out of there."
Across the highway, Dwayne Richardson said he was in bed because he had to get up to go to work at 3:30 a.m. He said his wife called and told him a tornado was on the way.
He said, "I said OK and rolled back over to go to sleep."
Then he said he heard his step-daughter hollering, and they, along with two other people in the old house, lay down in a hallway.
Mr. Richardson said it was especially frightening when "there were loud explosions and everything lit up."
No trees fell on the house, but large trees fell all around it. Portions of the house suffered extensive damage from the wind.
One large limb fell on Mr. Richardson's truck. He said, "My motorcycle on the porch was the only vehicle that was not damaged."
Gertrude Farmer of Chattanooga said her 90-year-old mother, Estelle Peoples, was alone in a house to the rear of where Mr. Richardson lives.
She said her sister went to check on Ms. Peoples and learned she "sat in her chair and waited until it was all over. Then she got up to get her flashlight."
Her home escaped most of the damage, but there were numerous trees toppled.
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