Kemp Homeowners Clean Up After Surviving Tornado: ‘I Could See Everything Swirling Around’

KEMP, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Ralph and Jennifer Wernli don’t have a television for the new house they moved into last Wednesday.

“I don’t watch TV, but I will now,” the new resident of the Cedar Creek Country Club residential community in Kemp said Thursday.

Wernli and his wife were inside their new house when an EF-2 tornado moved through the upscale lake community, causing damage to several houses, including the theirs.

“It just got loud. I’d never been in a tornado before, but I knew what it was. She was yelling at me. I looked back, and I could see everything swirling around,” Ralph Wernli said.

At least one dozen houses suffered wind and debris damage from the confirmed tornado. Cedar Creek Country Club consists of houses built around a private golf course, which extends onto the banks of Cedar Creek Reservoir.

Thursday, volunteers, neighbors and residents from nearby Mabank brought food, fruit, water, chainsaws and other supplies to assist in the cleanup effort.

Sharla Vrzalik lost at least ten 40 year old oak trees on her property. She spent Thursday removing debris with the help of others.

“People say I’ve got chain saws, tractors, you tell us, we’ll come out and help,” she said.

Kaufman County officials have yet to provide damage estimates for the Cedar Creek/Kemp area.