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"Just pray for the town of Mayfield," Timothy Townsend tells his former neighbors in Tampa
Justin Matthews reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Timothy Townsend and his wife were supposed to celebrate a friend’s birthday party on Friday night, but were forced to stay in because of weather.
After 9 p.m., it started to get really bad.
Fortunately, Townsend and his wife are OK. They live in Mayfield, Kentucky, about four miles from where the powerful storm produced a tornado.
"My home is fine, the way to town on this side of town is fine, but the minute you get into town and the downtown, it is absolutely it’s destroyed, it looks like something, like a war zone, that’s the only word I can describe it, like a devastating war zone, like a bomb went off," said Townsend.
He moved to Mayfield from Tampa about a year ago.
"From Irma to this, like one of the biggest hurricanes to one of the biggest tornadoes, it’s insane," Townsend said.
A damaged building following a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (Liam Kennedy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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They drove around after the storm. He says the place he calls home is now unrecognizable.
"It looks like a giant lawnmower just went through town," he continued.
He says people in the community are now reaching out to those impacted by offering free tree-removal service, generators, and welding services.
"Just pray for the town of Mayfield and anybody else who was affected by this massive natural disaster," Townsend added.
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A woman walks away from a row of ambulances on the property of Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado, in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (John Amis / AFP) General view of tornado damaged structures on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) General view of tornado damaged structures on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) Emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (Photo by John Amis / AFP) Emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (Photo by John Amis / AFP) Workers toil through the destruction at Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado with workers inside, in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (Photo by John Amis / AFP) MAYFIELD, KY - DECEMBER 11: General view of the collapsed Mayfield Consumer Products building (foreground) where workers were present when the tornado came through Friday night on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of the lower Midwest late on Friday night leaving a large path of destruction. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) Bowling Green, Kentucky, residents look at the damage following a tornado that struck the area on December 11, 2021. (Photo by Gunnar Word / AFP) Emergency workers search what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (John Amis / AFP) Emergency workers search what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. (John Amis / AFP) Workers remove debris from an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 11, 2021, after it was hit by a tornado. (Tim Vizer / AFP)