Tornado touches down by Lynnville; roof ripped off family’s home

Marshall Hay (front) picks up debris and belongings from his family’s garage. The Hay house, just east of Lynnville, was damaged when a tornado ripped off the roof and destroyed the garage Sunday night. Jessica Lowe/Daily News

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Ten years ago Mark Hay and his family were left to pick up the pieces of their home and rebuild when a tornado ripped apart their house. Today, the Hays found themselves doing the same thing after a tornado ripped the roof off of their Lynnville home and destroyed the garage Sunday night. “Ten years ago the same thing happened,” said Mark Hay as he picked up debris left by the tornado that struck several Jasper County homes. “I know the routine.” Hay’s wife, Kendra, and their children, Marshall and Madison took shelter as soon as they saw the tornado approaching. “I watched it come over the river valley, and we took shelter in the storm shelter,” Hay said. Marshall Hay, 15, said Sunday night’s storm felt a little like deja vu. “It felt like a repeat,” said Marshall, who was just 5 when the family’s first home was hit. “More or less it’s sadness. (After the tornado hit) it was a rush of what to do, what do I have to do to save this. What’s the first step?” The Hay family already had a crew from SCE Construction working on the roof just 14 hours after the tornado touched down east of Lynnville. “I want to thank all the neighbors who helped out,” Mark Hay said. “There were 40 or 50 people here last night.” The National Weather Service indicated that a trained spotter reported damage to a home about five miles southwest of Lynnville at around 6:30 p.m. Another eyewitness reported a tornado touching down four miles south of Sully at about the same time. The spotter reported an 8-mile damage path south of Sully heading north toward Lynnville. At least three other homes just south of Lynnville were hit along with Co-Line Manufacturing near Sully. No reports of injuries have been reported. ——— The Associated Press contributed to this story.