A strong storm damaged eight homes in Celina, rated EF-3, with winds reaching 165 miles per hour. NBC 5’s Wayne Carter spoke with families who survived the storm and expressed their determination to support each other during recovery.
Eight homes in Celina were significantly damaged by storms that plowed through Denton and Collin counties overnight Saturday. Some homes were leveled; one even had a trailer picked up and dropped on its roof.
Tornados will destroy one thing and barely touch something right next to it. Unfortunately, this one chose to drop one of its heaviest hands on eight homes on Prairie Meadow Lane in Celina.
After the storm, everyone rushed outside, but not from one home.
"They weren't outside, so they knew they had to be somewhere," said Damon Norman, a volunteer.
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Somewhere under a pile of rubble was a mom, dad, and two kids trapped in the pantry where they ran just before the tornado hit.
"The neighbors all gathered and dug them out," said Norman.
The neighbors dug them out? Well, you have to know something about Prairie Meadow Lane.
"When this neighborhood was being developed they called it firefighter row," said Dustin Allen, firefighter.
Out of eight homes significantly damaged, NBC 5 was told five are co-workers.
"They're all firefighters, all firefighters here in Frisco. They all chose to come land live next to each other and built their own little community out here. Most of our guys usually respond to these emergencies; they are the emergency now, and we're responding to help them."
There were hands everywhere, trying to save and secure things, and even the firefighters trying to figure out how their coworkers got out of all this alive. They supported one another with snacks and smiles and now are looking at the long road ahead.
"They're upset, shocked, but we're moving forward," said Allen.
After all, helping is what they do for a living, and while no one knows why the storm picked this street, they do know that it will bounce back.
The Frisco Firefighters Association is accepting donations to help the families, you can contribute here.
