FRANKSTON, Texas — Lake goers and residents of the Lake Palestine Resort had to change their Memorial Day plans due to an EF-1 tornado that hit the area Thursday night.
Usually, the Lake Palestine Resort would be busy this Memorial Day weekend, but lake goers are spending their time elsewhere - picking up debris as boats are still under the dock sheds.
"I went and bought all the food and drinks. We were going to come here and hang out all weekend and so now we’ve been eating sandwiches at the house for a while," CJ Shirah said.
Shirah spent Saturday evening trying to get his boat from the mess left behind by last weeks storm.
"The roof had actually fallen on top of it we had to get in there with a bottle jack and jack it up 4-5 inches," Shirah said.
Shirah was able to get his boat out with minor damage to it. Further inland, contractors are working around the clock in the heat making repairs to damaged homes along the shore. Meanwhile, other’s taking time to help friends clean up trying to salvage what they can.
"We started coming across the bridge. First thing I saw were those boat docks and I was like ‘oh they got it bad," Robert Hernandez said.
Hernandez was on his way to the RV park to see if his friend was okay.
"They thought that he was in the trailer, so we rushed over here to see if we were going to cut him out, but luckily, he made it to his truck," Hernandez said.
Hernandez is one of many who are lending a helping hand in a time of need despite it being Memorial Day weekend.
"We had plans to be out in the water yesterday, but we’ve been out so busy working that it doesn’t even feel like Memorial Day today," Hernandez said.
The storms was a life-changing event for some near Lake Palestine, despite the damage there was some good news -- no fatalities.
"When a tragedy like this happens, everybody came together, and everybody is working together to try to clean it up," Hernandez said.