MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) — Tuesday, May 20, was a stressful and scary night for many across the Tennessee Valley. The Weather Authority confirmed at least two tornadoes touched down in the region, with the National Weather Service still surveying areas that were damaged.
It’s a night that one couple on Glenmore Drive in Madison won’t forget.
Bill and Diane Nicholson said they feel lucky to have made it through the storm without a scratch.
“It’s a miracle,” Bill said.
“Very thankful and just the outpouring from friends and families been awesome,” Diane said.
The couple said that when the storm struck, they were watching TV in their living room.
“We had been sitting on the couch,” Diane said.
“I mean like inches away from where the ceiling collapsed later on,” Bill added.
Diane said they got lucky that the tree stopped short of the living room.
“Had it penetrated the living room ceiling, it would have been right on top of us,” she said.
She said that at first they didn’t quite realize what had happened.
“It was just this uproarious, boom, you know, that came through the house,” Diane said. “I thought maybe lightning had hit.”
However, it wasn’t lightning. It was an 80 foot tall Red Oak tree that fell on their house. It split part of it in two.
The guest room took the majority of the hit from the tree.
Bill said the entire room was gone when they opened the door to the guest room.
“It’s like all the joists were collapsed and all the insulation in the attic was all over the place,” he said.
Bill told News 19 that he doesn’t think they took a direct hit from the confirmed Madison tornado. However, he believes they were struck by an outer band of the tornado-warned storm.
He said the tree fell on their house around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The couple left their home for the night shortly after.
“We were in a state of shock, absolutely,” said Diane. “[We] just didn’t know what to do first.”
When the couple returned to their home Wednesday morning, they discovered that other parts of the ceiling had collapsed.
The couple spent Wednesday packing their belongings. They told News 19 that in addition to the tree damage, there was a lot of water damage. The Nicholsons said repairs could take six months to a year.
“It was like a freak stroke of bad luck,” Diane said. “But I don’t know, goodwill, come out of it.”
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