More than two weeks after a tornado swept through Morgan County, Stuart Brakeman still has one thought about the ordeal.
“I thank the good Lord every day that my family’s just safe. That’s all that matters. Everything else can be replaced,” Brakeman said.
Until he can replace, Brakeman busies himself with cleaning up. Since the storms put he and his family out of their house, he comes up daily to tidy up and check on things as he waits for his insurance to tell him what’s next.
He said the destruction happened so quickly.
“The lights blinked, they went out, my ears kind of clogged up from the pressure and I was screaming ‘Get to the bathroom!’ and by the time we got in there, it was gone,” he said.
Brakeman said he was in the kitchen when the tornado roared, just steps away from where most of his family’s belongings are now huddled.
He added that he was fortunate to not have been in the back bedroom where he normally spends part of the evening since that was where the house took the worst of the damage.
“Chances are I may not be standing here if I had been in the bed,” Brakeman said, looking at the blown in corner of his bedroom.
Brakeman and his family have lived in in their home for 20 years. He has no qualms about coming back.
“We’ll stay here and we’re going to rebuild, that’s for sure. We’ve got a lot of good neighbors and that’s a good thing too,” Brakeman said.
by Will Robinson-Smith wrobinson-smith@waaytv.com | Dec 15, 2016
