- Woodville suffered catastrophic damage from the May 10th tornadoes last year.
- Major repairs have been done, but there are still remnants of destruction in businesses and homes across the neighborhood.
- Watch the video for a tour of Woodville before and after neighbors say the tornadoes changed the landscape of the town.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Major progress and remnants of destruction in Woodville, one year after fierce tornadoes left the town unrecognizable. I'm Kenya Cardonne, your Southeast Tallahassee neighborhood reporter. People have moved away, major repairs have been made and there's still work to be done in several parts of this community. Let's tour Woodville before and after the May 10th tornadoes etched an unforgettable scar onto the town.
"Can you believe that it's been a year?"
"I think about it every day," said Cedric Lee Hayes with Gulf Coast Lumber & Supply.
The morning of May 10th, 2024, Cedric Lee Hayes was working his shift at Gulf Coast Lumber & Supply before he had to take shelter.
Hayes - "When I walked inside, the doors was coming open, them trees were coming across the road. They were just coming, just like, boom!"
This was what he and fellow employees of this business, which has been here since the 70's, walked out to see after a tornado ripped through the Woodville community.
Hayes - "You know, you see it on TV and you say, 'Oh yeah, they had another one,' but when you in it, it happened so fast, and it takes you, your body, it takes over your body. It's real.. it's real scary."
I was on the ground that day, touring the damage. The power was out across town. Downed power lines and massive trees replaced the roadways. Giant limbs impaled homes and smashed cars.
One year later, tree stumps and damaged structures remain as somber memories of the devastation left behind.
Some of the neighbors I spoke with moved out of town. Some of the ones who stayed are still in the thick of it.
Raymond Stevens, Neighbor - "It'll be a year tomorrow, and I'm still waiting for return of some of the money that I've spent on the house."
Raymond Stevens and his wife hunkered down in their bathroom while the tornado blew through their roof and shed.
Stevens - "You know, you see it and then all of a sudden things is devastating. And it's one of them things you gotta learn to live with and thank the Lord that you wasn't hurt."
And while the roads are clear now and major repairs have been completed, neighbors say May 10th's catastrophic tornadoes changed the landscape of the Woodville they've known and loved for decades.
Hayes - "You can see the sky in different ways that we didn't see before."
Stevens - "I can stand here and see the water tower where I couldn't before because so many trees have been blown down. I will not live long enough for the trees to ever grow up and cover the water tower up, I don't believe."
Our coverage over the last year has also shown how, despite adversity, many neighbors here have leaned on each other for a boost in morale and support through several community events and resource giveaways. In Southeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27.
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