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Hearne storm destroys family home

Strong wind and rain causes family to lose everything
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HEARNE, Texas — It's hard to imagine racing to a bathtub with your two young children in the late hours of the night, but that's exactly what Alondra Toledo did when the severe storm passed through Hearne earlier this month.

"I just grabbed them while they were sleeping, both of them at the same time and put them in the bathtub and you know, just thinking, I mean, we technically lost everything. Me and my husband work hard for it and it's basically gone in like a matter of five minutes," Toledo said.

It was her childhood home, and where she was hoping to raise her children in it.

"It's just saddening to know like my kids won't get to experience what I had in the same home," she said.

She said her husband, Ivan, was outside with his cousins and they all were drenched once inside.

Bill Duckworth, the city's Public Works Director, said he remembers exactly what it was like the first time he laid eyes on it.

"I saw a mobile home with the roof of it pealed off like a sardine can and tossed into a tree. I was like, wow, we've got a lot of work to do cleaning this up and here we are just on Monday afternoon and we've had a lot accomplished, we still have a ways to go to getting the city cleaned," Duckworth said.

He says winds were up to 80 miles per hour and water damage has also caused some mold. You can help the family by contributing to their GoFundMe Mage here.