Some of the damage at Grace Baptist Academy
photo by Dennis Norwood
Grace Baptist Academy development director Les Compton was shocked at what he and his wife saw late Sunday night after they dared look up just after a devastating tornado had finally passed. But it was shocked in a good way.
He and his wife had closed all the nearby doors and huddled on the floor as the frightening storm approached.
The fury lasted "maybe two or three minutes. It seemed like a long time. I know I don't ever want to experience it again."
Mr. Compton said when they finally peeked up "we were amazed. We had fully expected to find windows blown out, walls missing, and rain pouring in. Thankfully, we had comparatively very little damage, though houses all around us had much worse."
He said a large tree did blow down, but it fell away from the house. There was some damage to the electrical lines at the roof.
The longtime Grace official called the school's athletic and football coach Bob Ateca and found out "they were all okay, but their house had been blown away. They are only three blocks away."
He said, "We know that we were very, very fortunate."
Mr. Compton, who lives a mile from the East Brainerd school, said he lived on the other side of Grace in 2011 when another tornado passed. He said, "At that time, I heard a loud noise and told my wife the train from Ooltewah sounds awfully close." He said his wife responded, "That's not a train."
He said Grace Baptist Academy had been moving forward on a new development plan at the time of the storm. With insurance coverage in place, he said, "We are looking at this as an opportunity."
Mr. Compton said the church sanctuary is probably salvageable. He said the church offices and children's center are already being reroofed.
The elementary portion may be able to be saved.
He said, "Everything else will be bulldozed. Grace will be a new school."