Parishioners huddled in a hallway while outside the twister cleared the parking lot of cars, dumping them in a ravine 300 yards away. The 2-story church collapsed in on itself, but two supporting walls held firm. The only injuries were a few broken bones. By morning, with skies sunny and calm, trees around Rock Creek and other hamlets could be seen snapped in half and the roadside littered with debris and overturned cars. The aftermath seemed especially striking amid the full blush of spring.
Azaleas still blaze alongside homes reduced to splinters and piles of bricks.
In one yard where a house had been, a bright blue birdhouse was still attached to a fallen tree. It was unharmed amid the scattered strips of insulation and bits of clothing in the branches. But on this night, everybody was made for it. A mile up the road, where dozens of homes were crushed, Farrol and Kathy Kirby and their two children had huddled under a mattress in their living room as the tornado approached. That may have saved their lives when the tornado lifted their home and carried it about 150 feet.