South Fulton County

'Scariest time of my life' Family's home ripped apart during tornado

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A family is still a nervous wreck after the tornado made a mess of their home. It blew a door off its hinges and tore off a wall and part of the roof.

One family member told Channel 2's Tom Jones it was like a nightmare.

“You don't think that your whole wall and roof is gonna be gone,” said Shinri Israel.

Israel, her mother, her 3-week-old nephew and seven other relatives were inside their home on Caspian Drive. That's when they learned a tornado was headed their way.

They heard hail and a ferocious wind outside.

“The air in the house. It was as if all of the air was just sucked out of the house, if you can imagine that,” Israel said.

Venita Mitchell screamed for her daughter to get downstairs.

“I screamed, like, ‘Come down,’ because I knew if she hadn't gotten out of here she wasn't going to make it,” Mitchell said.

Israel ran downstairs but realized her 11-year-old son was still upstairs.

“I ran up here to get my son and I pulled him out of the room and that's when the door just flew off the hinges,” Israel said.

“And so, one second more, she'd have gotten hit by the door. She wouldn't be standing here talking to you all,” Mitchell said.

The storm also tore a hole in Mitchell's bedroom.

“I would normally be in this room, and it could have very well sucked me up,” Mitchell said.

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All 10 people crowded into a small bathroom downstairs until the storm blew through.

“I don't wish it on anybody. The scariest time of my life,” Israel said.

They are very thankful that they are physically OK.

The family is staying at a hotel.

The Red Cross is assisting the many families who suffered extensive damage to their home.