Marion couple’s son loses house in Andover
Staff writer
A tornado that tore through a section of Andover on Friday destroyed the home of Chris and Kim Hett. Chris’ parents are Rocky and Shirley Jo Hett of Marion.
Rocky said the family heard warnings, so Kim and their 21-year-old son, Gehrig, went down into a bathroom in the basement. Chris went out on a porch to watch the sky.
Trees blocked his view of the horizon and the house next door, but when the air turned brown with dust and debris, he rushed downstairs and was near the bottom when he felt the house begin to lift.
His ears were popping and glass was breaking.
He made it to the bathroom safely, but the house was blown away.
Afterward, Chris dug himself out while his wife and son waited for help. Emergency workers soon arrived and got them out.
Chris’s daughter, Gracie, saw the tornado when she left work and drove away from it.
Despite the trauma of the storm and losing their house, they didn’t lose their sense of humor.
“If I would have known you guys were coming, I would have straightened things up,” Greg joked to emergency workers.
Other houses in the immediate area lost roofs or were damaged, but none of them were destroyed, like Chris’s, Rocky said.
Their three vehicles also were destroyed.
The family spent the night with relatives in Derby.
When Rocky and Shirley Jo saw the scene the next day, Rocky said to Chris, “Did you say something to Putin that he didn’t like? Looks like he dropped a bomb on your place.”
One closet wall was left standing. They were able to retrieve some things from a closet that had collapsed into the basement.
Shirley Jo said a photo of Gehrig was found near Benton, nearly seven miles away.
“We are so thankful nobody got hurt,” Rocky said. “They had good house insurance and plan to rebuild.”