In the pitch-black darkness, after the storm had left McGhee Road in Apison, there was little hope for those trapped and screaming under the wreckage.
Winds fast and strong enough to snap thick steel utility poles took out cellphone towers, phone lines and power. But at Mark Kapperman’s home, a telephone rang.
“Mark, how are you?” a neighbor’s shaky voice asked.
“I’m fine,” Kapperman said. Downed trees littered his property, but their home was still standing.
“Well, we’re not,” the neighbor said. “We need help.”