Woman credits God for keeping her out of Hopkinsville church damaged by tornado
By DANIELLE JACKSON
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HOPKINSVILLE, Kentucky (WSMV) — On any other Saturday, Felicia Radford and her son would be inside Mt. Olive Baptist Church cleaning the building before Sunday’s service.
Last Saturday, Radford decided not to go to the church to clean.
“All I can say is thank you God because we could have been here,” Radford said.
A heart of gratitude is what she’s feeling knowing she was not inside of the church on Saturday morning when an EF-2 tornado ripped through town. She said she’s blessed and thankful that she wasn’t inside during the tornado.
“My son and I are normally here, and I just thank God because that’s the unseen danger. He knew we were going to be in danger that day and he told me don’t come,” Radford said.
Radford took News4 inside of the church on Monday afternoon. There’s a large hole in the roof, shreds of insulation from the ceiling on the pews, but everything else is still intact, including an unscathed Holy Bible that sat on the podium.
“Not even a break in furniture is what we’ve found so far,” Radford said. “We’re thankful for the community.”
Just yards away the roof of the church’s other property was damaged. They used the building to serve others in surrounding areas.
“It was a historical house, and we had been working on it so we could turn it into a community house,” Radford said.
Despite the damage from the tornado on the first day of the new year, Radford said she relies on her faith and encourages others to do the same.
“He lets us know that there is still hope, there’s still hope and keep the faith,” Radford said.
Over the next few days, the church plans to continue the cleanup process and cover the roof to protect what’s left.
No one was killed, injured or reported missing on Saturday in Christian County.
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