‘I don’t wish it on anybody’: Residents left stunned after EF-1 tornado rips through community

SALEM, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) - The aftermath of an EF-1 tornado on Sunday left the residents of a Virginia town stunned.

Carol Huynh lives on Riverside Drive in Salem, where several trees and power lines went down, destroying many personal items.

“I’m thankful to God nobody was hurt,” she said. “I’ve never been through anything like this before. Never. I hope to God I never do it again.”

Huynh said she and her husband were sitting in their living room watching TV when they started to get storm alerts.

“Before you knew it, things were flying by the window. That’s when we grabbed the dogs and tried to race to the basement,” she said.

Before she even got to her basement, the storm stopped.

“Five minutes of damage, that’s it,” Huynh said.

In just a short amount of time, everything was destroyed in their front and back yards, including the roof of their home and the windshield of their car. Both are now in need of replacement.

“You don’t realize how much wind damage you can get. You really don’t,” Huynh said.

Damage was also done to the properties of other residents. Every shed in Fredrick Wilson’s backyard was smashed by trees. Fortunately, his home was spared.

“I come back and open up the back door and I just screamed. We’re lucky it didn’t hurt our house at all, we’re safe and sound, nothing here that’s damaged that can’t be replaced,” Wilson said.

Huynh said she has been through disasters before, but nothing like this.

“I don’t wish it on anybody. Nobody,” she said.

Strong storms with high winds that produced multiple tornados crossed the Midwest Sunday evening before making their way east. At least 25 people were reported to have died, according to The Associated Press.

Major storm damage occurred in northern Texas, with various other incidences reported across the U.S. in states east of Texas.

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