Danny's destruction hits Lexington family

Web posted July 27, 1997

 Danny's aftermath

Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- Marvin Jackson feels things deeply, and sometimes he can even sense what's about to happen. That's why he put his arms around his wife, Trina, a couple of hours before a tornado swept her to her death Thursday.

When the 40-year-old Lexington County man woke up on the couch just after midnight, he heard the roar.

``I grabbed my baby boy in my right arm and hollered, `Get to the hall.' '' Then he turned toward the kitchen, and the storm sent his whole life sailing.

``The floor went out, and it was dark. We were just turning and twisting.''

A cement block flew into the back of Mr. Jackson's right shoulder. Ten seconds later, all was quiet. ``When I stood up, I was standing on the foundation on the dirt ground,'' he said.

Trina, whom he'd married five years ago, was gone. The couple's 6-year-old son, Marcellous, was bruised, but safe. Three-year-old Maurice was banged in the head, but would be OK.

Talking about his family's ordeal isn't easy for Mr. Jackson, a thick, broad-shouldered man who works as a machine operator at Pirelli Cable in Lexington.

He got one of his feelings again before dinner. ``Something came to me just to go put my arms around her. I told her I loved her. She said, `I love you, too, baby.' That was the last things we said to each other.''

Trina was straightening the boys' room with Marcellous when the storm hit. Mr. Jackson never saw her. The coroner told him she died instantly.

He asked for prayers ``to give me the strength to be father and mother to my boys.'' And he cried.

Life for Mr. Jackson and others along Old Wire Road hasn't returned to normal two days after the storm caused $1 million in damage in Lexington County and more than $100,000 in neighboring Richland County.

Instead, the normally quiet country road near U.S. 21 and I-26 is packed with cars as people drive by to look at the neighborhood's devastation. Television vans sit alongside the road.

He sits and talks with family, friends and people from work, and he is thankful for them.

``A lot of people make a noise about the separation of white and black people in this community,'' Mr. Jackson said. But the hugs, prayers and help have come from a variety of visitors never before seen at the Jackson family's door.

Danny's aftermath

Deaths: Trina Jackson, 32, killed in Gaston after a tornado leveled her house.

Injuries:At least nine people with minor injuries, including Mrs. Jackson's husband and two sons.Damage: In Richland County, 26 homes and six businesses with an estimated $107,000 in damage, according to the county assessor's office.