PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – People in the Dry Fork area are still recovering from tornado damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
Trees were snapped in half and ripped from the ground. Vehicles, homes, and carports were damaged.
“I didn’t want to look, but I looked,” said Trevon Hardy, Dry Fork resident. “I said man, what a mess.”
Crews are now picking up those pieces left behind by the EF-2 tornado that tore through the Dry Fork area for nearly seven miles Friday afternoon.
“It’s devastating,” said Chris Key, Pittsylvania County Public Safety Director. “I’ve never seen such a large area affected with that many residents and that much damage.”
The director of public safety says the tornado damaged over 20 homes.
“It sounded like a train coming through our living room,” said James Dalton, Dry Fork resident. “We were actually asleep in this room right here, and the tornado came straight through right here. It shook the whole house.”
James Dalton woke up to the noise and two trees on top of his house.
He then saw his neighbor laying under a tree after being thrown from her home.
“Me and my mom ran outside. We ran out of the back door and saw everything was caved in. We saw no trailer. The tree was laying in the yard, and when we came out, our neighbor was actually buried underneath the tree. That was terrifying,” added Dalton.
Despite his fear, Dalton’s only thought was to help his neighbor, who is expected to recover, and others in his situation.
“I wanted to be able to help as many people as I could. It was a lot of panic, but we were just trying to keep ourselves together to be able to help her and then help all the rescue people that came out to help us.”
Power was restored within 12 hours, and all roads are now open.
Donations can be dropped off at Hopewell United Methodist Church.
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