Her husband nodded, “Oh yes. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, other emergency agencies, the Red Cross, and even some officials from Crisp County, and of course, all of our friends and neighbors. They were out here as early as 5 o’clock this morning and before that.”

Henry had been at his residence in Cordele when he received the call from a neighbor, “We got the call and weren’t able to get here until early morning.”

Looking around, putting on his work gloves, Henry said, “We’re so thankful that no one was hurt.”

Henry’s next door neighbors in the Flint River community, Lee and Charlyne Hall, heard the tornado when it hit.

Lee Hall said, “People talk about that train noise, well, I heard it. It was loud. We got in our closet.”

The Halls’ vehicles were damaged as trees had fallen on them.

Henry pointed at a power line down in front of his drive, where his house, now partially, stands.

“The power is dead. Right now, we’re safe, though I still would be cautious around the lines. When they do get it back on, I don’t know what is going to happen.”

Hall indicated, “The power was hooked up somewhere over there and it got knocked out.”

A neighbor a few doors up the street from Hall sustained major damage as well as Hall said, “Her boat house got blown over.”

Up the road a piece on Hwy. 280, The Plant Place, a nursery shopped by many in Crisp and Sumter counties, is no longer standing. Though it looks like a total loss, one employee said, “We lost some trees, and buildings, but we were able to salvage a few items. Right now, with the power being out, our main problem is how we’re going to water them.”

Leisa Cross, executive director of the Middle Flint Chapter of the American Red Cross, said, as of 3 p.m., that her agency had completed damage assessments for the Cobb area in eastern Sumter County, with 45 homes damaged, seven destroyed, seven with major damage, 15 with minor damage and 16 homes affected in some way such as shingles off, etc. She said the Red Cross had sheltered three families.

Ferrell Henry, looked at what used to be the dining room window of his home, and at the figures of friends, neighbors and his wife searching through the debris, and smiled.

“You know, houses can be rebuilt.”