As Southern Mississippi faces an onslaught of tornadic storms, one large family is spending their Saturday in a “safe room” made of cinder blocks.
The family lives in Taylorsville, a small town in Smith County, which was under three separate tornado warnings in mere hours Saturday.
Stacy Bryant Hawkins, 59, said she could feel “suction” when a likely tornado hit Taylorsville Saturday afternoon.
“Just the wind blowing. It gets really still when one comes close by but then all of a sudden the rain came with a force. We watched (the likely tornado) go over my back pasture,” Hawkins says. “It was more of a roaring sound.”
Their house did not have any damage but Hawkins is concerned about what will happen throughout the rest of the day.
She is most fearful of her family members getting hurt, especially her 84-year-old mother, who did not want to leave her Taylorsville home.
“I am very scared of bad weather. We’ve been in our home 23 years and that’s why I insisted on a safe room being built,” she tells CNN.
Her family has spent the last few hours in and out of their “safe room” on the first floor of their home. Because Smith County gets a lot of tornadoes, the family decided to create the storm room in their home, Hawkins explained.
Multiple family members have taken shelter at her home, including her daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, a two-year-old and four dogs.
Her brother-in-law wasn’t as lucky. His Taylorsville home just took a direct hit, Hawkins told CNN.
“They have a tree in their master bedroom,” she said. “I know a lot of friends are over there helping them, and my husband and son, but I don’t know what they’ll do.”
