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HEFLIN — Taylor Pappas lost the Mother's Day card she had bought when a tree slammed into her mom's bedroom early Sunday morning and landed inches from her face.

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Slideshow: Heflin storm damage Photos of weather damage in Heflin.

But her mother, Joan Pappas, said she received the best Mother's Day gift of all when her 14-year-old daughter ripped down the bedroom's door frame to free her from the room. The tree had wedged itself inside the space and trapped her.

"I woke up and just started screaming, 'Taylor, Taylor,'" Pappas said. "She ran down the hall through glass to get to me, because I couldn't get out. She saved me today."

Taylor said she didn't know how she managed to tear down the door, but when she thought her mother was pinned beneath the tree, terror propelled her.

This family was just one of many with storm damage Sunday morning, after what officials believe was a tornado tore through a Heflin neighborhood near the Cleburne County Nursing Home.

By 10:30 Sunday morning, streets in the neighborhood had been mostly cleared of trees, but downed power and phone lines meandered through yards and across streets. Residents walking around tiptoed and danced around the lines. The power was shut off, one man said, but he wasn't taking any chances.

While no one was seriously injured and most of the homes remained harm free — aside from some roof and siding damage — residents kept commenting about the trees. They were everywhere.

Oaks that had been more than 100 years old and that a day earlier had stood more than 100 feet high now lay broken on the ground, red mud clumped around root balls wider than an SUV.

Men with chainsaws spewing sawdust sliced tree trunks most people couldn't get their arms around into manageable pieces to roll out of driveways and yards.

Large pieces of trees, leaves and other debris were pushed out of the street and lined the edges of yards, the piles almost hiding some homes.

Trees and telephone poles were snapped off at their bases like broken chopsticks.

For outsiders looking at the mess, it was hard to imagine what the neighborhood looked like before the storm.

But residents said while panic and worry ruled the night, cleanup began first thing in the morning.

Lanessa Rollins, a 25-year-old mother of two, was working with her husband, father-in-law and other friends to clear her yard of limbs Sunday morning. She said when the roaring wind woke her, she first thought of her children, Nicholas, 3, and Brailey, 1.

Rollins ran to get her children, and she and her husband put pillows around them and huddled together in the hall.

"His body was shaking so bad," she said, stroking Nicholas' head. "And then it was over, and he said, 'Daddy, I'm OK.'"

Nicholas had an explanation for what had happened to his neighborhood: "The tornado ate the trees and spit them back out," he said.

The Rollins' house had no damage, but trees were down all around it.

Glenda Craven was not so lucky. She said her roof and siding would have to be replaced. Craven estimated it would cost about $20,000 to repair her home.
It could have been much worse, however. A huge oak tree in Craven's backyard fell during the night and landed only feet from the side of her house.

"When I looked outside and could see clear sky, I knew my tree was gone," said Craven, standing in a pool of sunlight the tree used to shade. "God must have said that if the tree had to fall, it would fall where nobody would get hurt."

Several of Craven's family members were helping clean up, and that seemed to be the trend around the area, as neighbors, friends and volunteers gathered in the street, offering the use of a truck or a chainsaw.

Insurance adjusters and Cleburne County workers could be seen throughout the neighborhood, and Alabama Power Co. trucks were everywhere, assessing the damage and working to restore power.

Alabama Power spokeswoman Gina Warren said on Sunday afternoon that about 3,400 customers were without power in the company's eastern division. About 2,200 of those were in Heflin, she said.

Warren said she could not definitely say when power would be back on for everyone, but that they hoped it would be restored by Sunday night.

"There will be crews out 24 hours a day until everybody is back on," she said.

Heflin Mayor Anna Berry was out talking to residents and checking out the damage Sunday morning. Berry left Savannah, Ga. at about 4:30 a.m. when she heard about the tornado, she said.

"To see this much damage, I'm so thankful that nobody was hurt," Berry said.

Cleburne County Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Swofford said the dollar amount for damage in Heflin would be high. In the coming days, he said, he would be working with the state to assess the area and see if it would qualify for federal disaster assistance.

Although Emergency Management Agency officials in other nearby counties reported some trees down, Heflin saw the most damage by a wide margin.
The Calhoun County EMA said the 911 building was struck by lightning, but that it was not damaged.

Pappas said the only room in her home with no damage was the living room, but she was thankful.

"The miracle is that we're here and alive, and it's a good Mother's Day," she said.