“I was taking the flag down and then it got real bad and I thought, well, I better get in the house. As soon as I shut the door, it just started getting crazy.”
Leavitt heard what many tornado survivors describe as the sound of a train. As he started to make his way into a hallway to get into a bathroom, he looked back over his shoulder.
“The roof behind me was lifted up and you could see the circles (of insulation), you could see the tornado,” Leavitt said. “It was just ripping the roof off right behind me.the whole roof just disappeared. It pulled a cement block wall down.”
It s all gone: Lakeland man survives tornado that wrecked home, cars
Ken Suarez reports
LAKELAND, Fla. - In north Lakeland, Wednesday’s tornado skipped down Gibson Shores Drive, hitting one house and missing the next.
Scott Leavitt was just getting home from work when the wind started to pick up. He rushed inside and it happened. Everything started shaking, he recalled. My ears were popping like crazy.
Then part of the roof ripped off and he scrambled. It happened so fast, he continued. I was trying to find a safe place, but what’s safe when the whole roof is going away?