Christmas Day storm reached as far as Wilmer

WILMER, Ala. (WALA) - Several families were impacted by a tornado that hit a neighborhood on Natchez Highway and Findley Road, near the Alabama/Mississippi state line.

One of the first signs that a tornado passed through the area was a half-twisted tractor-trailer lying on its side in the yard of Vitale Baraniuc.

 “[He heard] a loud boom,” said Moses Baraniuc of Wilmer.

Vitale Baranuic (BARA-nyuk) a Moldova native said he was sitting inside his home when the tornado passed through the yard destroying his tractor-trailer.

“Don't have truck, don't have trailer need another one – truck, because frame and truck and trailer is damaged frame,” said Vitale Baraniuc of Wilmer.

Baranuic works as an independent long haul truck driver.

He said the damage will cost him about fifty-thousand dollars, that's not counting work that he has to turn down.  

Tornado touches down Christmas Day

Despite the hit to his wallet, he's thankful no one was hurt.

“He says he's as happy as Jobe, he's healthy and he's alive -- the rest is fixable,” said Moses Baraniuc.

The tornado left clues in the tree tops, near Baranuic's yard, to its next destination on Spotted Fawn Lane. 

There, the Neeley family was forced to take cover under a mattress as the twister flipped their home.

“Man I didn't have any idea what was going on, I'll be honest with you it's a scary thing anybody that's been through this they're blessed to be alive, trust me,” said George Neeley of Wilmer.

Neely said it all happened in less than a minute, afterward he kicked out a window so that he and his wife could escape the wrecked trailer.

“I can honestly say I've never experienced anything exactly like this anytime in my life and I'll be 69, next October,” said Neeley.  

Neely's friends will help clear the debris and he plans to move a new trailer in soon.

The National Weather Service surveyed the damage in Wilmer today; they say preliminary reports show an EF-1 tornado hit the area.