Thunder in heart of tornado aftermath
February 3, 2007 - World Indoor Football League 2 (WIFL 2)
Daytona Beach Thunder News Release
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - From making emergency repairs to providing shelter, the staff of the Daytona Beach Thunder was in the heart of Friday's tornado crisis while narrowly avoiding catastrophe themselves.
Twenty people were killed when a strand of tornados worked its way across Central Florida, destroying over 100 homes and causing at least $80 million in property damage.
Head Coach Leon Bright, in his capacity as Director of the Chisholm Community Center in DeLand, housed approximately 20 displaced citizens at the center Friday night and remained on call to provide assistance to local authorities.
"There are streets in DeLand that don't exist anymore,'' Bright said. "It's bad, very bad."
In New Smyrna Beach, the townhome/office of owner Antone Smothers and Vice President of Operations Brad Humphrey was only yards away from the path of one tornado.
"At first, I thought âthat train sounds a lot louder and is coming faster than normal', and then you realize it isn't a train," Humphrey said. "We scrambled to get in the safe part of the house. We were extremely fortunate. Houses less than 100 yards away were destroyed and are now condemned."
Nearby, the home of the parents of WIFL communications director Dan Ryan took a direct hit, with every window shattered and the living room roof ripped off and tossed 50 feet. Ryan's father, John, suffered minor cuts and was taken to a local hospital.
Along with owner Zack McDonald and Chaplain Kenny Reeves, Smothers and Humphrey quickly put a tarp on what was left of the roof and arranged for temporary shelter for Ryan's parents.
Thunder communication intern Taylor Holly's street was hit hard, though his home suffered little damage. His family was running off generator power until late Friday night.
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World Indoor Football League 2 Stories from February 3, 2007
- Thunder in heart of tornado aftermath - Daytona Beach Thunder
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