Anxious moments for people in path of Bedford Co. storm

BEDFORD CO., Va. (WDBJ) - Residents of Bedford County endured some frightening moments Friday morning, as severe weather damaged and destroyed homes.

People who live in the Norwood area near Forest said they followed the weather forecast on local stations, received a tornado warning from the National Weather Service and did their best to prepare for the storm that was bearing down on their neighborhood.

Mark Macgregor said it was “pretty clear, pretty quick” that he and his wife and their neighbors were in the line of fire.

“We heard the wind first, and then the sound that everyone seems to describe, which is that sort of thundering sound,” Macgregor said. “Saw some things flying in the yard, so we hunkered down and it didn’t last very long, but quite a surprise when we came out.”

Macgregor’s home wasn’t damaged, but he didn’t have to look far.

Some who surveyed the scene, like Bryan Cameron with Sharptop Tree Service, brought reports of extensive damage.

“A lady was in her trailer. She came out of her trailer and held on to the drive shaft of her tractor. Luckily she’s still alive and the trailer is up in the trees. but we’ve got a heck of a mess here,” Bryan said.

And we spoke by phone with Jill Hostetter, who rode out the storm with her husband and mother.

“And so I looked out my front door and I saw the twist, so I yelled to my husband, we’ve got to get mom, so we ran back to her room. I literally put my body on top of hers, and my husband on top of me. The window broke, with glass all in her room, but we didn’t get cut, we didn’t get hurt.’

“If people can hear us, our neighbors, thank you very much,” she told us.. “They came to our aid real quick.”

And if that were not enough, Hostetter said the storm flattened a second home on their property where her son was living with his best friend.

They were able to pull themselves out of the rubble, and the son went to a hospital, but the two are now recovering with minor cuts and bruises.

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