An Uprooted Tree Uproots Several People in Amory

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – A pop-up storm Wednesday night toppled a tree onto a home.

There were no injuries, but the former residents of the house are looking for somewhere to go.

The Wednesday night storm comes after days of flash flooding and river flooding across Monroe County.

The combination of saturated ground and high winds proved to be a fatal combination for some trees and one of those trees was too much for this home.

“We thought it was a tornado without the sirens going off. That’s what it felt like, but I mean, it just sounded like the house was tearing down,” says Cory Long.

This uprooted tree is what was tearing down the home on 10th Avenue North.

“We were sitting there watching TV, just got back from the gym, and the next thing I know it just starts hailing and thunder-storming and then the wind just started blowing. Then, the next thing I know, the house starts shaking. We were standing between the kitchen and the living room and we go to the hallway and the house starts shaking some more, so we hop off into the closet.”

Moments before seeking shelter, Long was standing inches away from where the tree now lays.

Long and his roommate, along with a friend and his family, were all inside when the outside came in.

“It was just like a split second. I really didn’t hear it too well. I was hearing more screaming from everybody than anything, but yeah, I really didn’t hear much, but you could hear the house breaking down. That’s about it.”

March would have marked one year since Long moved into the home.

Now, he’s left having to move everything out.

“Right now, we have flash flooding. We have river flooding and then last night, just a pop-up storm came through and the ground was so wet, it’s knocked trees over and just so happened, it knocked the tree over on this house,” says Monroe County EMA and 911 Director, Donna Sanderson.

Long is one of many across Monroe County who has been uprooted by the recent storms.

“Yesterday afternoon, I had finished up all of my damage reports from the flooding and I had turned in 22 homes that were either major or destroyed and I submitted it all. I thought I was through and now, I find out this. So, I will go back and submit another one to say I wasn’t through.”

Long says he’s going to stay with family, until he goes on active duty.