JARRELL, Texas — Twenty-five years ago, the Jarrell, Texas community was ravaged by a category five tornado. Many residents were concerned a similar tragedy would happen again as tornado warnings went off Monday. Fortunately, the storm that came was not quite what hit the area in 1997.
After the storm, there was noticeable damage through out the area. Mayra Sayago, who lives off County Road 307, said her family was eating dinner when they saw the warnings.
"My husband opened the door and he just yelled and said, the porch is gone. It collapsed," Sayago said. "Then we all came outside and we saw everything. We noticed that all the neighbors have debris and everything and we knew it was bad."
Even with considerable damage, the people who live there were mostly in good spirits.
James Willis lives nearby off County Road 308 and said he remembers the storm in '97. He says while this storm didn't quite compare to 25 years ago, it was still no joke.
"I came back up to get something and a trash can flew by," Wills said. "I looked out the window and it was debris flying everywhere, like a cloud of white smoke outside and it sounded like a train's coming. So I ran down into the storm shelter told my wife and daughter we're about to get hit."
Despite the damages, most of the people in the area acknowledge that in situations like these, it could always be worse.
"It's a blessing to be up and everybody's up and everybody's safe," Wills said. "Then you just start stepping in a positive direction. I mean, you got a mess to clean up you got to help each other, clean up and rebuild as best we can and everybody leans on everybody in this community."
So far, no injuries or fatalities have been reported, which after talking with a few residents means more to the community than anything.
Nobody knows that better than Kristen Cox, who went through the storm in '97 and in 1989. She knows how bad this storm could've been.
"You can't replace people, you can replace things, so as long as everyone's here, it's fine."