MAYFIELD, Ky. — A 67-year-old Mayfield man and Marine veteran said if it weren’t for his older sister, he’d likely be homeless. David Turner lost his home last year during the deadly EF-4 tornado that tore through Mayfield and other communities in western Kentucky in Dec. 2021.
What You Need To Know
- Mayfield is still recovering from its Dec. 2021 EF-4 tornado
- The storm damaged or destroyed thousands of homes
- David Turner lost his rental home on 6th Street
- 6 months later, Turner has very few housing options
At least once a week for the past 6 months, Turner, a Marine and Vietnam War veteran, has driven through downtown Mayfield.
“I was lucky all the way around,” Turner said, looking out a passenger window as he was passing by his old neighborhood. “There ain’t nothing. It’s just all tore up. Everything is tore up.”
On one stretch of 6th Street, just north of downtown Mayfield, not much is left. Every home and building was destroyed and has since been cleared away, except for three heavily damaged homes.
“This house right here and that house right there, my next-door neighbor’s house. And this, mine, there. I rented this side,” Turner explained. “If I was on the other side, I think it would have sucked me out. I wouldn’t have made it. I wouldn’t have made it.”
The shell of Turner’s apartment home, a duplex, is still standing. The roof was torn off and windows and several walls were blown out. There is one internal hallway, and that’s where Turner was as 180 mph winds ripped overhead.
“I was laying right here in that hallway, where I was laying about three feet from where it blown this out. The only way I could get out of this apartment, I had to come through and go through this hole right here because my door was blocked in,” Turner recalls.
After the storm, Turner moved in with his older sister, Mary Dillon. Dillon’s home is more than a mile north of where the tornado passed through town.
“They said it was a mile wide,” Dillon said.
Turner wants to be on his own again, but said that in the tornado's wake, there are few rental options, especially for anyone on a fixed income. Turner lives on social security payments.
Between a lack of rental options and high inflation, Turner said even if he finds an apartment, he might not be able to afford it.
“I paid $450 rent but I probably won’t get that now. It’ll probably be more than that,” Turner said.
Several new homes are being built just a few blocks from where Turner lived for nearly five years. These homes are within eyesight of where Turned lived.
If rental homes do return to downtown Mayfield, that’s where Turner wants to be.
“I’d like to move right here. I’d love to be right here where I was living because I’m pretty close to Walmart, not real far away, eating places are pretty close,” he said. “I enjoyed living here. I thought I’d live here until the day I die, but I didn’t get to.”
Turner will have to rely on family until then, knowing not everyone has that option.