A Donegal woman has revealed how she returned from enjoying the Mardi Gras Festival to find her house almost completely destroyed by a tornado.
Bronagh Gallagher’s trip almost certainly saved her from serious injury after a huge tree fell on her house Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
College lecturer Bronagh, from Sallaghgraine, Letterkenny, received a phonecall from her dog-sitter to say her house had been wrecked in the tornado which struck last Sunday.
Bronagh, who moved to the US on a soccer scholarship 1998, was last night still trying to pick up the pieces after her ordeal.
She was trying to remain positive but admits it could have been much worse.
“When I got to the Mardi Gras I got a phonecall from my dog-sitter and she was just hysterical.
“She had managed to shelter in the kitchen and that was probably the only place that there is no real debris as such so she is so lucky,” said Bronagh.
Bronagh Gallagher from Letterkenny
Bronagh said it was complete chaos when she got back to her home.
Her garden shed had even been completely blown away.
“I was completely within a daze when I saw what had happened. I really was overwhelmed.
“My clothes have gone and I am depending on friends and neighbours giving me clothes but I’ll be okay.
“It could have been much worse. A neighbour of mine had to be dug out from the wreckage of his home,” she said.
Nobody was killed in the tornado which reached winds of up to 145 mph but two have been critically injured.
Bronagh’s close friend, Dolores Deasley, who also moved to the US on a soccer scholarship, has been a tower of strength to the 31 year old sports management lecturer from the University of Mississippi.
“Dolores lives just half a mile from me and nothing happened to her home. She has been so good to me and I would have been lost without her,” said Bronagh.
Amazingly Bronagh revealed that this is the second time she had had a brush with Mother Nature’s most dangerous elements.
“I was here for Hurricane Katrina to but the damage was superficial around here compared to this.
“You have to be positive about it all. Nobody was hurt and it’s only material damage which can be fixed.
“You just got to brush yourself down and get on with it,” she said.