In a scene that wouldn’t look out of place in “The Wizard of Oz,” a Texas retiree and her son were launched rocket-style from their house in a bathtub they’d taken refuge in during a tornado.
When Charlesetta Williams, 75, and her son, Ricky, realized there was a 130mph tornado heading for their home in Smithland over the weekend, uprooting everything in its path, they decided to take cover in a bathtub under a blanket, according to KSLA.
That was a smart move, as the powerful twister not only ripped the roof off their house but moved it five feet backwards. Neither the blanket nor the bathtub could withstand the tornado, though, and the tub was ripped out of the ground, launching its two unsuspecting passengers with it.
They did have some luck on their side, as the pair were deposited in a wooded area near the house. Charlesetta was still in the tub and Ricky was only 20 feet away. Surprisingly, the impromptu trip didn’t leave the pair with any injuries.
While Charlesetta can’t recall what it felt like to be ripped from her house by the winds, she’s not too keen to relive it.
“I wasn’t looking. I was under that quilt,” she told KSLA. “I’m a tellin’ you I don’t wanna ride now through another one.”
More than 20 violent storms hit the southern US over the weekend, wreaking damage across a number of states and killing at least 20 people in the process, seven of whom died in Georgia. That’s more tornado-related fatalities than were recorded for the whole of 2016.