One tornado confirmed in Gulfport

GULFPORT, Miss. (WALA) - A spokesperson for the City of Gulfport confirmed that one tornado touched down Wednesday around 5 p.m. The twister damaged a home in the 1700 block of 19th Street.

A tarp covered the home's front porch Thursday, which littered the lawn Wednesday night.

Ryan LaFontaine with the City of Gulfport sids no one was inside the home since they issued mandatory evacuations on August 28.

"Since Katrina was so fresh on everyone’s mind, just seven years ago, many people heeded those evacuation warnings," said LaFontaine.
 
A damaged home on 15th Street was under construction, and city officials said they believe it was straight-line winds that caused the damage.

Beau Pennington, the builder, said it was only three days from being framed but now it's a total loss. 

Although seeing the scene left him speechless, he already has a plan in place to fix the mess.

“Our goal is to start rebuilding next week. We want to show that we can be a beacon, that a storm like this can’t stop us.  We’re going to rebuild this community," Pennington said.

Pennington pointed out an uprooted oak tree, which used to lie on the coast. These examples of what Mother Nature can do make Pennington thankful Isaac wasn’t much worse.

“I’m very glad that there’s not very much destruction besides us.  I wish that our house hadn’t taken the brunt of the destruction, but I’m glad to see that the gulf coast has stood up very well and we look forward to rebuilding very soon," said Pennington.

Pennington said it'll cost more than $100,000 to rebuild the home, which he plans to have done within three months.