Tornado devastates family's home

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Michael Bennett and his wife Terry were awakened at 3 a.m. Wednesday by the screams of their 10-year-old daughter.

"I woke up to that, we realized something was happening to our house," Michael Bennett said later in the day. "It sounds like the old cliche, a locomotive going through the house. There was a whistle and I could hear the roof snapping, we had no idea the roof had gone."

The Bennett family lives on Happy Trail Drive in the East Austin community known as Walnut Place, which was badly scarred by a tornado that was part of storm system that brought lightning and flooding across much of Texas.

The Bennetts and their pets took shelter in the garage. Their home was essentially destroyed.

It is a tough blow for the family. Michael and Terry built what they called their dream house themselves.

"She designed it, and I built ir," Michael said. "Everything in that home we did ourselves, and we were real proud of it.

"It's an awakening experience, you lose material things, you realize what's important. My family didn't get hurt and we were able to save our pets."

The Bennetts have already decided, they will rebuild, right there on Happy Trail Drive.