7:07 p.m. Lady Lake

Jessie Graf returns to the remnants of her house just as darkness falls.
The double-wide that once belonged to her parents has been condemned. A blue tarp covers part of the roof, but the back half of the mobile home is open to the elements.
Graf, a 68-year-old retired nursing assistant, becomes almost hysterical as she looks at her house.
“Every time I come here, I am speechless,” she says, nearly breaking into tears. “I don’t know what to say.”
An old school bus that was once parked two lots down is now in her side yard.
“This bus over, here,” she says, pointing to the hulk. “This ain’t my bus.”
Then she recounts the horror she felt as the tornado bore down on her home Friday morning.
“Like everyone says, you hear a train.”
Graf is lucky. Her long-time friend Mary Smart is letting her stay with her husband in Leesburg.
The three returned to the house to look for any of Graf’s clothes that might be salvageable.
Then they will return to Leesburg.
But Graf’s 43-year-old son isn’t as trusting.
He’ll sleep inside the damaged mobile home for a second consecutive night to protect whatever’s left.
-Todd Leskanic
The Tampa Tribune.

Editor’s Note:
Thanks for staying with us as we cover this tragedy and its aftermath.
The blog will resume tomorrow.
Stay tuned to tbo.com and WFLA News Channel 8 for breaking news and pick up tomorrow’s Tampa Tribune for the Bay Area’s most comprehensive storm coverage.
-Howard Altman

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