Red Cross aids families

A young Cypress couple and their infant son clung together in the bathtub of their home as fierce winds hurled concrete pads at the trailer Monday.
Robert and Ciarra Ahbol, and 10-month-old Noah survived the storm unhurt. But their uninsured dwelling on Main Street was heavily damaged.
The danger was over in mere moments, the wind calm and quiet after a rampage that lasted less than 30 seconds, Robert Ahbol said.
Although there were no official reports to confirm that a tornado touched down in Jackson County, or whether strong straight line winds were to blame, Ahbol and others further west suspect a twister was the culprit.
In a subdivision off Mashburn Road just south of Marianna, the damage suggests that one came through there as well.
According to Capt. Bill Bryant of the Marianna Police Department, the wind lifted two or three small objects off the ground and brought down a few trees in that area. 
According to the American Red Cross, the roof of a home at 2199 Bridge Creek Road in Marianna was heavily damaged in the storm, but there were no reports of injuries. The Red Cross is assisting that family, as well as the Ahbols.
The Ahbol family has just a few days to figure out where they will live until they can get their home repaired.
For now, they’re staying at a local motel courtesy of the American Red Cross. But the organization can only put them up for a couple of nights.
Abhol, despite the challenge that lies ahead, is trying to count his blessings.
Most of the damage was limited to the roof and the hallway. The wind didn’t damage a single stick of furniture, and no one was hurt, he pointed out.
For reasons the National Weather Service is still trying to figure out, a warning of the sudden storm was sent out by that agency, but the signal never made it to the local emergency office, according to the local office.  As a result, no one knew the storm was coming.
But standing in her doorway, Ciarra realized something was very wrong, Robert said in describing the moments before, during and after the storm.
“I was outside and it went from being pretty cloudy to really dark in three to four seconds,” he said. “It started to rain, coming down pretty hard, so I ran inside and we were looking out the front door. My wife said, ‘It looks like something bad’s about to happen.’ Then there was a loud noise, and I could see on the back side of the house that something had come in through the wall and made two big holes.”
The family ran for cover.
“I told my wife to take our son and run to the bathroom,” Ahbol continued. “We all got in the tub. For about 20 seconds, we stayed in the bathtub. The baby was crying like he does when he’s scared, so my wife and I both held him and talked to him, just tried to comfort him.”
There hadn’t been enough time to grab mattresses and put them around themselves and the baby for protection, so Robert and Ciarra just held on to him and each other.
“After it seemed like the worst of it had passed, I told them to stay there and I went out and checked,” Robert said. “There was no noise or rain, and the power came back on. By then, our family members had started coming over.”
At that point, Ahbol had a chance to see the whole picture.
“Pretty much, the damage was caused by the wind picking up an awning that had been screwed into concrete pads. The concrete pads lifted up and hit the roof, so there’s a humongous hole in the roof,” he explained.
One of the poles from the awning went through the hallway wall and one of the concrete pads slammed into the porch flooring and broke it up. Two pieces of concrete hit the side and flew over the house. One of them dragged and gashed the roof, and the other one made a hole.
When the storm was over, one pad was on top of the roof, and the others were scattered all over the yard.
“I’ve got debris all over, and an off-duty policeman came over with two tarps for the roof,” he said.
Ahbol said he’s got quite a bit of work to do in the aftermath, and would welcome any donations of money or materials.
“We’re staying at a motel for two nights, and we’ve got food and everything, but now we’ve just got to figure out what to do for repairs, for materials for the roof and the inside,” he said.
The family can be reached at 850-209-4322 or 850-209-5791.
This the first dangerous weather Ahbol and his wife had ever faced head-on as adults, but Robert and son Noah now have something special in common.
“When I was a baby and my dad was stationed in Okinawa, some pretty serious tropical storms came through. I don’t remember them, but my dad tells me about them,” Ahbol said.