Hundreds of volunteers pour into storm ravaged Elon.
Chainsaws roared on Nottoway Drive as the third day of clean up efforts were underway.
“Watch them nails,” said Ernie Guill as he was working.
Guill lives just a few football fields away from the tornado path. He’s one of nearly 500 volunteers to come help his neighbors clean up.
“It’s really catastrophic. It’s tough for this community, but we’ve got a lot of good people out here. and a lot of people have turned out to help them, and we’re just glad to do it,” he said.
One of those people Guill is helping is Rene Sellick who’s home was almost completely wiped off of it’s foundation. All that’s left is a few interior walls and the basement.
That night she says they were enjoying dinner with the windows open before the storm hit.
“The rain started getting heavier and the wind started picking up, and Roger heard a roar,” she said.
What happened next would change their lives as they knew it.
“I couldn’t hear anything but that roar, and my daughter right next to me screaming,” Sellick recalled.
The EF-3 tornado with winds of 150mph had come and gone in seconds taking with it years of memories.
“This is my oldest daughter’s graduation card from my dad,” said Sellick as she opened a card she found in the debris.
Luckily with the help of volunteers she’s been able to salvage a few keepsakes.
The loss may be great, but Sellick says she’s walking away with her most precious belongings.
“I have my family and they’re safe, and we’re going to make it,” she said.
While storm victims need a lot of help right now, The Sellick Family is specifically looking for a place to call their new home, and say they are extremely grateful for the outpouring of help they have already received.
