GRIFFIN, Ga. — One year after several tornadoes ripped through Griffin, people who live off of Kendall Drive said it felt like they were ground zero.
"It was like a train. Like a really loud train. Like 'wooo', real loud," said David Williams as he imitated the sound a train makes when it rushes by. "And it got real, real dark, real fast."
Williams first lived on Wide Road, a street off Kendall Drive, when his dad bought the house in 1969.
"If this acre could talk, it would tell a lot of stories, a lot of memories," Williams said.
He talked about the green grass that used to surround the home.
"My dad used to grow a garden with sweet potatoes as big as your head," Williams said. "You can't get that back. It looks a mess now, but it was beautiful."
The lot was also once home to a handful of trees, including a big Oak that stood outside for more than 50 years. Williams said when the January 2023 tornadoes came through, the tree went with it.
"The old tree there left a hole in the ground like 12 feet," he said, pointing to a circle of dirt and roots where the tree once stood.
Williams was with his 2-year-old nephew when the storm hit.
"My instinct was to grab my nephew, come through here," he said, pointing through a room in his home that's still getting rebuilt. "And go in the bathroom. And when I did that, he just started screaming, man, and never stopped. I will never forget that scream of his."
The week of the one-year anniversary, there were workmen inside Williams's home. He said they were supposed to start painting in hopes of the house being move-in ready in a month or two, more than one year after the tornado hit.
Outside his house still sits a pile of trash and memories lost in the storm.
"It was amazing though. We survived it," Williams said, noting the tight-knit community that comes with an address off Kendall Drive.
Williams said he's looking forward to making new memories in his rebuilt home. He also said he's looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again after living with family for the past year.