VERO BEACH, Fla. — A Vero Beach couple said they're thankful to be alive after an EF3 tornado, the same tornado that killed six people in the Spanish Lakes Country Club community of St. Lucie County, ripped through their backyard.
"I don't understand how we did not get sucked out," Terry Futch said. "I really, honest to God, was by the grace of God that we were not sucked out in that tornado."
Camron and Terry Futch sat with WPTV reporter Kate Hussey on what's left of their back porch.
It used to be screened in, but looking at it now, you'd never know. All that's left is a slab of flooring.
"It's like remodeling your home when you had no plan to remodel your home," Camron Futch said.
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Camron said on Oct. 9, the day Hurricane Milton spawned at least 41 tornadoes across Florida, he was working and able to get off early.
"I was driving through a rain storm coming home and [Terry] was at home, preparing the home," Camron Futch said.
That was around 3:45 p.m. when the National Weather Service said an EF1 tornado with 95 mph winds moved down U.S. Highway 1.
"I drove through it right on the way home from work. I came down Route 60, and the roads were flooded, so I kind of took a detour onto 16th Street and by the high school," Camron Futch said. "And as I was driving forward, I saw debris swirling, and I saw the circulation and debris hitting my vehicle and then onto my left, a tree falls down, and I kind of drive around it, and another branch, huge branch and power lines were down."
"I remember we were actually on the phone," added Terry Futch. "And that's when he said, 'I think this is a little tornado.' And then he yelled something — I don't remember. And he's like, 'Oh my God,' or whatever. And I kept yelling, 'Camron, are you OK?' Luckily, that's after he told us he went around it. And it was like, 'good gosh.'"
That tornado was the first of three to hit Vero Beach on Oct. 9.
The second, also an EF1, hit just half an hour later at about 4:15 p.m. It took nearly the same path as the first twister.
Dash camera video that WPTV obtained from the Vero Beach Police Department showed officers driving right through both tornadoes and surveillance videos from the police department show the moment the tornadoes tore through the area.
"We got tornadoes touching down everywhere!" a Vero Beach police dispatcher said on a 911 call that WPTV obtained. "We had two touch down right at the police station!"
"I thought I had seen the worst of it. But I didn't know what was coming," Camron Futch said.
"You know, not realizing when he got home that was only the beginning," Terry Futch added.
Still to come was the biggest of all three tornadoes: an EF3 with 155 mph winds. It started in Fort Pierce and ripped through Lakewood Park and the Spanish Lakes Country Club community, where it killed six people.
The tornado then hit the Futchs' home in Vero Beach before moving into the Central Beach area and then off into the Atlantic Ocean.
"I was looking over through the kitchen window where you can see where the screen door was, and I'm like, 'What's going on?'" said Terry Futch. "All of a sudden the French doors flew open and it scared me, I was like, 'What is this?'"
Futch said she ran to the doors and called Camron, who was still outside.
"I said, 'Camron, get in here! Get in here!' He hurried up and got in. He grabbed one side of the French door with his hand, I grabbed the other side and all I kept saying is, 'Help me hold this door! Help me hold this door!' He put his hands over mine and we held that door," Terry Futch said.
"I don't know how you explain it. The house just started vibrating," Camron Futch added. "The porch was almost breathing. You could see it flexing in and out and then it just started shaking violently. The roof just disappeared it peeled back."
"We watched it in front of us," Terry Futch said shakily. "And I don't know, by the grace of God, I don't know how we were not sucked into that tornado, I don't know, I just don't know how that happened. It was probably 15, 20 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity holding that door."
"Is it hard to relive that moment?" Hussey asked.
Terry Futch took a deep breath and released a big sigh.
"Every time I talk about the doors and that part of it, yeah," she said "I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night just remembering, 'Help me hold the doors!' That's all I remember."
Though they survived the storm, the aftermath has been just as hard. The couple's home has been left unlivable for the time being.
"We lost a good portion of the roof, and unfortunately water damage because immediately after we realized the porch was gone, we kind of calmed ourselves down and then started having drops of water come down into every room," Camron Futch said.
"Many cracks in the ceiling," Terry Futch added.
"The ceiling was a loss. Fortunately, it did stay up, but it's soaked. The electrical wiring is wet. The flooring all has to be replaced, so it's just been one thing after another and trying to get things lined up to be repaired," Camron Futch said. "It's been a chore for sure."
"It's just shock. It's like, what do you take? You've got 30-plus years of memories. What do you grab?" Terry Futch said. "I've been through every hurricane. I've been in this house since 1983 and Camron’s been here with me since 1992 when we were married, and we’ve been through every hurricane. "But this… this was a monster. It's just really a monster."
The Futchs said it will take about $50,000 to make their home livable again. They are waiting for an insurance estimate, but in the meantime, are living in a hotel.
"And so here we are now, just...at this point, just waiting, and it's just overwhelming. That's the only thing I can the best word I can think of is just overwhelming," Terry Futch said. "We still have a long way to go, long way to go."
The couple said even aside from the damage, this experience will haunt them for a long time.
"I'm looking up here now at all these clouds, and it just kind of gives me an eerie feeling all over again," Terry Futch said. "I think that's going to be the hardest part is when I see clouds again like this. Because after the tornado was gone, we still saw these eerie clouds."
"I just don't understand these things. I hope we never have to experience another one. I hope nobody ever has to experience one like this, which is very scary," she added.
Camron and Terry's son has launched a GoFundMe page to help them pick up the pieces. Click here if you'd like to help.
