"Didn't know if I was going to make it out": Tuolumne County woman gives terrifying account of tornado
A Tuolumne County woman gave a terrifying account of the tornado that touched down near her home this weekend.
Michele Menzies thought she might not survive as the tornado swept over her Jamestown home. She called and left a message for her fiance.
"I recorded a voice message and I just said, 'We're at the ranch, and there's tornadoes going on here, and I just want you to know that I love you because I really didn't know if I was going to make it out,' " she told CBS13.
Menzies took shelter in her Jamestown cabin's shower as the tornado touched down. Photos show the damage: trees knocked down, and roofs collapsed. There were no reports of injuries.
Menzies is still on edge.
"I got in the bathroom, I hunkered down in the shower and my dad just said, 'Whatever you do, stay away from the windows and stay in that shower and don't get up until I call you and tell you it's OK,' " Menzies said. "You could just hear the wind wooshing. It was like nothing I've never experienced before."
Tuolumne County Supervisor Jaron Brandon said the county Office of Emergency Services is surveying the damage. The tornado damage is only a small part of the extreme weather people are facing — flooding is a big problem.
"We're getting hit by storm after storm after storm and so we're greatly reliant on everyone taking every action they can to protect themselves, to protect their neighbors, check in on the elderly," Brandon said.
This foothills community is now bracing for more extreme storms ahead. Another one is expected to impact the region from Monday to Wednesday.
Menzies said she also lived through the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989. She said Saturday's tornado was more frightening for her.
