Man tries to salvage remains of his car

By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
Dec. 21, 2002
NEWTON As the late-afternoon sun set in the distant background, Jack Thames surveyed the damage to his car that was buried under rubble that once was part of Sunflower Food Store.
A tornado packing up to 157 mph winds had struck early Thursday afternoon. Thames' wife, Karon, was inside the nearby Newton Municipal School District office on Scanlan Street when it hit.
Its windows were smashed, its hood and doors were dented and it was moved at least 5 feet by the storm landing on top of a concrete bumper in front of which it was once parked.
Thames' story was one of many in this small East Mississippi city that was struck by a devastating twister classified an F2 storm and capable of causing widespread damage.
Businesses were damaged and destroyed and residents spent much of Thursday and all day Friday cleaning up, trying to return their lives to normal six days before Christmas.
Karon Thames, who was in the office with McMillan and about eight other workers when the tornado hit, remembered what happened.
Meanwhile, Jack Thames spent late Thursday afternoon after the storm digging through their car trying to find his son's golf clubs.