LAVISTA, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The small community of Lavista near Hico is coming together after friends and neighbors lost their homes following a likely tornado Tuesday evening.
The storm started as a severe thunderstorm in eastern Kanawha County and was eventually upgraded to a tornado-warned storm once it rolled through Ansted.
The storm remained strong enough and was at risk of producing a tornado even as it made its way into Greenbrier, Nicholas, and Pocahontas counties.
This specific storm in the Hico area was likely a tornado, but the National Weather Service will have to send out a team to investigate and confirm.
LOOTPRESS spent the morning Wednesday speaking with community members and checking out the damage caused by Tuesday’s storm.
Miranda Crist was here in Lavista with her mom, and sister-in-law when the likely tornado wreaked havoc.
“We heard that it was hitting in Ansted, so I went to Ansted to get my sister-in-law and her babies, and we came back here and was just lollygagging around,” Crist said.
Crist said they had no power at their home in Lavista so they opened the doors to let some cool air in, and she was shocked at what she saw outside the door.
“I looked up and all we could see was the shape of a funnel, and I said Maddie, is that a funnel and she said yes.” “So we grabbed all the babies, ran into our bathroom, hunkered down, and just held our babies.”
Crist says her mom was in the garage outside as this all unfolded. The garage was destroyed during the likely tornado with Crist’s mom inside, but Crist’s mom received only minor injuries.
“I ran outside to go find my mom, my mom fell to the ground as soon as she saw that we were okay,” Crist explained. “She had to get stitches in her knees but she was fine, the garage was completely gone.”
She says that her neighbors also received extensive damage to their property with one of her neighbors being struck in the head with a board.
Crist says despite many within the community suffering extensive storm damage, they still came together to help one another.
“Our community is awesome, [Deputies] Nick Mooney, Rachel [Brandstetter], Rob [Neal], Coty [Pierson], they’ll take care of anybody they know, even if they don’t know them,” Crist stated. “I love them.”
Crist says she has one piece of advice for everyone moving forward.
“If there’s a tornado watch, be prepared,” she concluded.
Following Tuesday’s severe storms, a shelter was opened up at the Midland Trail Community Center in nearby Ansted.
Fayette County Shelter Coordinator Libby Campbell Lucas says she and other volunteers sprung into action once they got word of what was coming.
“I got a call about 10 or 10:30 from [Fayette County] Homeland Security, Kevin Walker, that he had got notices that the weather was going to get really, really bad,” Campbell-Lucas explained. “I went ahead and came here, we set cots up, we had blankets out and we started having food come in.”
She says they were able to feed those without power Tuesday night.
“We did feed people in Ansted that had no power, we just waited and took care of people as they came in.”
Many in the area remain without power and the shelter will remain open as long as there is a need, according to Campbell-Lucas. She says she is glad to see the community coming together.
“This community did exactly as they always do, they pull together, they take care of everybody.” “We’ll be here as long as there is a need or a thought of a need, we’ll be here.”
According to responders who were on scene in Lavista tell LOOTPRESS only a few individuals received minor injuries.
Multiple homes and a convenience store suffered significant damages during Tuesday’s likely tornado.
Although a lot of damage was done, the small Fayette County community with a big heart looks to build back better than before.
