By the time Cheryl Lovett received word a tornado was barreling toward her Columbia home, she didn’t have time to act, family members said Thursday.
Brooke Helmick, Lovett’s niece, said her cousin, Brie Lovett, sent a frantic text message to her mother warning her of the large tornado barreling toward them on Blackburn Lane.
Cheryl, 67, and another relative, Penny Lovett, were together.
“Brie was on her way home from work. They got to the church first,” Helmick said. “My cousin texted them at like 5:18 p.m., told them they needed to get out.”
The two women lived in a mobile home next door to Brie Lovett. There was no where safe for them to shelter, Helmick explained. She said her aunt brushed off the warning with a laugh.
“That was the last…
