PALMETTO, La. (KLFY) — They’re still assessing the damage after a deadly tornado tore through Palmetto last weekend. A man who survived the storm shared his view of what happened that night.
“All of a sudden I heard the sound of a freight train. My house was shaking. I heard my wife scream,” said Barry Hardy.
Hardy lives on Bolden Road. His mom, Mildred Hardy, 83, lives next door, where the roof was ripped off. He showed us the damage inside, and where she survived the tornado.
“You can see how the tornado was pulling the ceiling up. When you look in the closet, you can see the sunlight. We’re fortunate it didn’t suck her out of the house,” said Hardy. “She was sound asleep and woke up. She didn’t know what was going on, and she was soaking wet”
Hardy says the home is a total loss and will eventually be demolished. Thankfully, everyone is ok.
“Emotionally it comes and goes. It brings back painful memories. I’ll be ok then it hits you again. I can’t explain it,” said Hardy.
Hardy also talked about helping the man who died in the tornado, 28 year old Jose Antonio Higareda. He says he tried to help, but there was nothing he could do to save him.
“We just tried to comfort him. It was heartbreaking. The poor guy was in the fetal position. He was moaning. He was unconscious. We covered him. I was holding a blanket to try to keep the rain off of him,” said Hardy.