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Guadalupe County man, 70, escapes injury after tornado rips off roof, walls of his home

‘He said the roof fell on him,’ the man’s son says

KINGSBURY, Texas – Clint Murphy took it all in as he surveyed the damage Tuesday left behind by a tornado that tore through his RV and his father’s home outside the Guadalupe County community of Kingsbury.

“It’s pretty emotional,” Murphy said as he went through their belongings scattered hundreds of feet across their property.

Murphy wasn’t home when the tornado struck, but his 70-year-old father, who is immobile, was.

Murphy described the moment his neighbors found his father after the damage was done.

“They walked around the corner here. He was sitting on the edge of that bed smoking a cigarette. He was sitting there (and he said), ‘Took ya’ll long enough. ‘Bout time ya’ll got here,’” Murphy said.

Murphy doesn’t understand how his father wasn’t hurt.

“No, not a scratch,” Murphy said. “And I guarantee you, he was laying there praying. I guarantee you that.”

Those prayers were answered after the home’s roof collapsed and most of the walls were ripped off.

“He said the roof fell on him and then they said it lifted off of him,” Murphy said. “It hit him and lifted off of him.”

His whole living room is gone.

All the stuff stored in his shed was untouched, but the shed itself was sucked up onto the house and into a tree.

Several kayaks were left scattered across the property and Murphy’s RV he purchased just a year ago was destroyed.

Despite the devastation and close call Murphy is staying positive. He said they are blessed and all they can do now is clean up and rebuild.

“It’s tough, you know. You have a rough beginning, you smooth it out. As soon as you get ahead they knock you down. You just gotta keep getting up,” he said.

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About the Authors
Sarah Acosta headshot

Sarah Acosta is a weekend Good Morning San Antonio anchor and a general assignments reporter at KSAT12. She joined the news team in April 2018 as a morning reporter for GMSA and is a native South Texan.

Tim Stewart headshot

Tim has been a photojournalist and video editor at KSAT since 1998. He came to San Antonio from Lubbock, where he worked in TV and earned his bachelor's degree in Electronic Media and Communication from Texas Tech University. Tim has won a handful of awards and has earned a master's in Strategic Communication and Innovation from Tech as well.

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