tree fallen in Warrick County after Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
tree fallen in Warrick County after Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
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Newburgh home following Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
Newburgh home following Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
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Newburgh neighborhood following Nov 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
Newburgh neighborhood following Nov 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
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fallen tree in Newburgh neighborhood Nov. 6, 2005 Tornado by Deb Turner
fallen tree in Newburgh neighborhood Nov. 6, 2005 Tornado by Deb Turner
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Newburgh neighborhood following Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
Newburgh neighborhood following Nov. 6, 2005 tornado by Deb Turner
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I’ll never forget that night.  November 6, 2005.  At that time, I was working at a local radio station where I hosted the Saturday Night Dance Party.  My show was over at midnight and I remember as I left work how warm and calm it was outside.  When I arrived home, I had opened up the windows to let in the fresh air and went to bed shortly after 1am.

It was around 2 am when I heard my cell phone ringing in the kitchen.  I got out of bed to answer it and as I was walking down the hallway, I heard a loud whooshing sound. Just then I felt a rush of wind in the house that knocked me down on my knees.  Confused and shouting out some profanity, I picked myself back up and answered that still ringing phone! It was my former husband telling me to get the kids and dog downstairs because a tornado was coming through Newburgh!

I ran back down the hallway, grabbed both of my kids and the dog who managed to stay connected to my legs and we headed down to the basement and stayed there for about 15 – 20 minutes.  Back upstairs, everything looked okay until my son checked my bedroom & found the windows had been blown out and shards of glass were everywhere!  There was more damage to the house but it was fixable! The good thing was we were all safe and sound and so grateful for the call I had received earlier.

When the sun came up that morning, it looked like a bomb had hit my neighborhood (Newburgh).  OMG!! Outside my front yard was our huge Linden tree, uprooted and lying parallel to our house.  Another tree in the back yard had fallen just narrowly missing our house. Around the neighborhood, car windows were blown out or crumpled; boards from homes that had been destroyed were lying everywhere; pieces of clothing and garbage was everywhere! Later I had found out it was an F-3 tornado that hit our area.

My three neighbors across the street were not so lucky.  Their homes were a total loss.  Thankfully, they all walked away without a scratch, bruise or broken bones.  If you had seen their homes at the time, you’d wonder how in the world nobody got hurt!  Rebuilding was an ongoing and lengthy process.  We all came together and worked together including my own 2 kids and their friends to help clean up the huge mess that would take days, weeks, even months to clean up.

My heart goes out to all those lost in the early morning hours in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.  10 years later, I’m still very grateful to the National Guard, Red Cross, and to all the volunteers from everywhere including local churches that helped to clean and rebuild our neighborhood. The Newburgh United Methodist Church gets a huge thanks for feeding us from morning to night when we lost all our food due to no electricity. Thanks again to all the volunteers who helped us during our struggles at that difficult time.

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