Cleanup begins after deadly storms hit the South: "I thought the whole house was coming down"
Haughton, Louisiana — A tornado ripped through Loris, South Carolina, on Monday, sending cars flying through a high school parking lot. Students were in class but no one was hurt.
The unexpected twister dropped and lifted so quickly, meteorologists didn't have time to warn residents. It was part of the same system that unleashed 30 tornadoes and killed at least a dozen people in recent days across the South and Central U.S.
In northwest Louisiana, an EF-2 tornado with 135 mph winds tore through the town of Haughton. A giant tree sliced through 84-year-old James Keen's house and landed a few feet from his bed. A phone alert in the middle of the night likely saved his life.
"I was in that bed and got up to get the phone and got right here when it hit. I thought the whole house was coming down," Keen said.
Just a few blocks away, the only thing left of one home is a pile of rubble. Jerry and Mary Sue Franks were killed when the tornado pulverized their house and pushed it almost 200 feet off its foundation.
On Monday, new drone footage of North Central High School in Kershaw, South Carolina, shows the power of the storm system.
The tornado in Louisiana left a path of destruction almost 25-miles long. For the people still cleaning up, they're facing more rain in the forecast.
