Ruthie Ware went to sleep in her bed Sunday night and awoke in a ditch early Monday after a storm destroyed her single-wide mobile home in the Paynes community.
Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Director Thad Roberts said Ware, whom he described as a woman in her 60s, was shaken but not seriously injured.
“According to the National Weather Service, it happened about 3:45 Monday morning,” said Roberts, noting that, to his knowledge, the county was not under any watch or warning at the time.
Roberts said NWS officials told him the likely culprit was straight-line winds, but he is not convinced.
“I still say it was possibly a tornado,” he noted. “It looks like there was a lot of downburst with some twisting.”
Whatever it was, the powerful windstorm plowed into Ware’s Mounce Road home with an undeniable fury.
The house was ripped apart — its top section carried west-northwest and the frame sent crashing southward into the driveway.
“That tells you that thing had some rotation. It had to be spinning,” said Roberts, describing action more indicative of a tornado than straight-line winds.
The main living quarters of the structure piled up near a gravel road some 60 feet from the original location, Roberts noted. Debris was widespread.
Ware, who lived alone, was said to be sleeping when the brute force of the storm hit.
She awakened to find herself “in a ditch some 80 to 100 feet from where her house had stood,” Roberts explained. “Evidently she was knocked out, and it sounds like she might have laid in that ditch for some time.”
After waking, Ware walked to a neighbor’s house and was taken to the emergency room at Tallahatchie General Hospital, where she was examined, treated for minor injuries — “mainly bruises,” said Roberts — and released.
Physically, Ware was OK. However, her house and a shed on the property were completely demolished.
“She lost everything she had,” wrote a family member who started a GoFundMe page for Ware. “She has to start over but God is still good. He spared her life and for that we are very appreciative and blessed.”
Anyone who would like to contribute to Ware may visit the fundraising site, www.gofundme.com, and in the search bar type “Help for Ruthie Ware.”
While Ware’s property was the hardest hit, Roberts said a mobile home situated about 100 yards away sustained roof and side damage after tin was “ripped” loose.
At the nearby residence of Garry Fink, a storage shed was lifted, carried 25 or so feet and crushed on Fink’s 16-foot trailer. A tree in his yard was uprooted, and there was scattered tree damage throughout the community, Roberts noted.
IN THE PHOTO: Monday morning, several men sift through the remains of Ruthie Ware's single-wide mobile home in the Paynes community. A windstorm destroyed the home and threw the elderly Ware into a ditch. (Photo by Thad Roberts)
