Tornado, winds and rain rip through the county

By Carrie A. Mizell

Afternoon storms on Sunday dropped an inch and a half of rain on a county sorely in need. Along with the rain came toppled trees, downed power lines and even hail in some areas of Gilchrist County.
Fortunately, the brunt of the storm system, which produced a tornado in Mississippi that killed numerous people, was not nearly as severe when it passed through North Florida on Sunday afternoon.
Mary Rogers, of Trenton, was one of 20 members of Pine Grove Baptist Church who stayed after the morning worship service to count the offering and prepare for a children’s program planned for Sunday evening.

The north portico at Pine Grove Baptist Church sustained extensive damage Sunday afternoon. Photo by: Mary Rogers

“I was in the church office helping sort envelopes and it came a downpour, the likes to which I have never seen,” Rogers stated.
It wasn’t long before the church members began to hear hail pelting the windows and bouncing off the ground.
“All of a sudden we heard a commotion coming from the front foyer and people yelling,” Rogers said. “I snatched the office door open just in time to see stuff flying down the hall and hail bouncing down the hallway.”
Rogers said she knew immediately it was a tornado and she thought it must have busted out the glass on the front doors of the church, but in reality, it only blew the doors open.
“It passed as quickly as it came,” Rogers said.
When she walked into the foyer, Rogers said, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Rain and wind had blown through the sucked open doors. The church’s wooden welcome center had been pushed across the room and everything on it, including papers and a vase were stuck to the walls or strewn on the floor. The floor was soaked and there was bark, trash and hail lying everywhere. Hail was even reported in the back of the sanctuary beneath the rear pews.
Fortunately, nothing was damaged at the church that can’t be replaced or fixed, though trees were down all over the property.
“I’m so glad now that I volunteered to stay and wasn’t on the road driving home,” Rogers said.
A tornado watch remained in effect until 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, as the storms blew out of the area.