ARAGON — The family of Mike and Bonnie Turner were at work Friday cleaning up the area around the couple’s house on Live Oak Road north of Aragon, which was destroyed by the March 15 tornado.
Bonnie Turner died in the storm. Her husband was injured and is recuperating in a Tennessee hospital.
With help from Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief, family members were sorting items found in the debris.
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“We’re just making piles of things now,” said Bonnie Turner’s brother, Barry Schrader, of Dallas, who was helping supervise the work of his sons and a cousin.
The Turner’s family home — located on 30 acres at 988 Live Oak Road, Aragon — was among the hardest hit. The two-story home, which Schrader said was built in the mid-1980s, was flattened by what has since been described as an EF-3 tornado. The twister was so powerful that in addition to demolishing the home, it grabbed three vehicles from the couple’s driveway and flung them hundreds of yards away from the home.
The couple’s car was pulled from a pond behind the house. The pond is currently being drained so the family can see if any other items are there.
Schrader said the Turners’ full-size van was recovered from a field and their large RV was torn to pieces and deposited along the edge of a pasture and cotton field.
Sharon Coffman, Keep Polk Beautiful executive director, is organizing an effort at 10 a.m. today to help victims. For more information about how to help, call 678-246-1083. Coffman plans for this to be an ongoing volunteer effort. Click here for information about helping through the 211 line.
It was also a somber day in Floyd County, where funeral services were held for Jerry Albers, who lived just across the Polk County line from the Turners. Albers was also killed in the storm. His funeral was Friday afternoon at Second Avenue United Methodist Church in Rome. The sanctuary of the church was filled and spillover seats were put in the fellowship hall where a TV monitor allowed friends to watch the service.
Flint Hill Baptist Church, just inside Floyd County, is still was collecting food items to distribute to families in need. Many churches across the region have donated food, she said. Other donations may be made through the church’s pastor, Don Spears, at 706-346-6644.
