MOUNT ENTERPRISE, Texas — A family in Mount Enterprise is thankful to be alive after they reported seeing a tornado shake their home and tear it to pieces late Monday night.
While not confirmed if it was a tornado yet, this line of storms uprooted several trees down FM 2496 in Rusk County and caused damage to several homes in its path.
Eunice Caldwell was at the center of it all, she said she's been through several tornadoes but this one hurt the most.
"It always sounds like a train. First, it gets this big roaring that really hurts your ear and then there's a big whistle and you better make it before the whistle hits. Trust me I've been in enough to know," Caldwell said.
The family lives on a large property on FM 2496 and her daughter was in the camper right next door when the winds shut her doors, trapping her inside.
"The first responders came and helped her out, thank God," Caldwell said.
Meanwhile, just three miles down the road, CBS19 crews were taking shelter inside a Whataburger connected to a gas station in town. They described the scene as windy then eerily quiet, until the winds and rain picked back up.
Several commuters inside huddled inside the innermost corridor of the structure as a precaution during what some described as a very close call.
Back at the Caldwell residence, the family is counting their blessings. Although the storm damaged most of their belongings, they are just thankful no one was injured or killed.
The Mount Enterprise community was hit by a tornado in the same week last year on March 26, 2021. That storm ripped through homes and caused extensive damage to a nearby cemetery.