OKEECHOBEE – Charlie and Katrina Williams were in the backyard of their home in Dixie Ranch Estates, finishing preparations for Hurricane Milton on the afternoon of Oct. 9, when the phone rang. “Our neighbors across the street called and said there’s a tornado coming through Dixie Ranch,” explained Charlie. “We literally just made it into the house.”

Katrina said they hurried into the bathroom for shelter and heard the tornado tearing through their yard.

“It sounded like a freight train,” said Charlie.

Katrina said she could feel the air pressure change as the twister went by.

Charlie said that phone call saved their lives. He said the tornado alert on his cell phone went off when the tornado was already in their yard.

On Thursday, the Williams were joined by friends and neighbors cleaning up the debris left on their once nicely landscaped property. Charlie said they are very grateful to live in a community where people care about each other.

Katrina pointed across the street at a neighbor’s home which lost part of its roof to the tornado. Those neighbors were not home, she explained. “Looking at it brings me to tears,” she said. “That could have been us.”

More than 30 homes, barns and structures were damaged or destroyed by tornadoes in Okeechobee County in the outer bands of Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9.

OKEECHOBEE -- The tornado that went through Dixie Ranch Estates uprooted trees, flipped vehicles and trailers and damaged homes. [Photo by Katrina …