NATCHEZ — Morgantown residents described an evening of terror and shock as storms and high winds passed across the area early Thursday morning.

“I woke up and I thought I was having a nightmare and then I thought we were having an earthquake,” Morgan Avenue resident Max Hearn said Thursday morning. “I looked at my phone and saw the tornado warning and scooted into the hall.”

Hearn had just moved from Baton Rouge into his stepfather’s house on Morgan Avenue.

As the storm passed over, Hearn described the winds as horrific.

“It sounded like God screaming at us. It was horrible,” Hearn said. “I have never heard anything like it and have never been so scared in my life.”

One tree in front of Hearn’s house was uprooted and another tree behind the house dropped large limbs on top of the roof. The limbs went through the roof into the attic Hearn said.

Two houses down the street, a large tree fell on top of Jennifer Lyles’ house, damaging the house and three cars that were parked in the driveway.

Lyles said she was asleep when she heard what must have been the tree falling on the house.

“I heard a boom. The force was so heavy it threw me out of the bed,” Lyles said. “I stood up and I was rocking. I heard my ceiling and walls starting to cave in, so me and my son had to crawl to the living and dining room and crawl out the side door.”

Neither Lyles or he son suffered any injuries.

Both Lyle and Hearn said they were thankful that nobody on their street was killed or injured during the storm, especially with the number of trees and limbs that were on the ground.

Mayor Darryl Grennell and interim fire chief Ventriss Green were surveying the damage on Morgan Avenue, helping arrange assistance for Lyles and others whose homes were severely damaged.

Grennell said storm damage is in various parts of the city and county, including parts of Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Roselawn Subdivision, Morgantown and the Kingston area.

“We have been out since 2:30 this morning. The biggest damage is in (the Morgantown area) thus far,” Grennell said. “From what I have seen personally.”