GhLinks Media
A 60-year-old man was killed on Thursday when his home collapsed in a tornado.
The tornado also caused severe damage to several homes, a nearby middle school and a 130-year-old church.
Family members said Bryan Barnes died when a tornado touched down early Thursday morning in Wilson County, damaging multiple structures in the area.
“It’s gonna take a while to set in. Cause it’s hard to believe,” Norman Toler neighbor said.
Neighbors like Norman Toler were among the first on the scene. He witnessed the tornado from his back porch.
The tornado was first reported at 2:51 a.m. Thursday in Lucama.
At least 10 homes were damaged, including Barnes’ two-story home that collapsed on Lloyd Road.
“Looked out the back door and started praying and I saw all the debris flying, and I said lord, you know I worked all my life for this stuff right here. Please don’t take it. And I heard by buddy Brian’s house, and I jumped on my UTV and come up here,” Toler said.
At the scene, Toler and others discovered the shattered wreckage, but their friend was nowhere to be found.
Neighbors initially searched the surrounding fields before first responders focused on what they believed to be the bedroom, where they found Barnes.
