Had it not been for a tornado warning and the “hand of God,” the story of what happened Friday at a church camp near Lone Star in Morris County could have ended differently.

As storms swept through East Texas that day, 126 women and five staffers who were gathered at the Lakeview Baptist Assembly near Lone Star took shelter in a hallway in one of the camp’s worship centers as a severe storm passed over the top of the building.

On Monday evening, the National Weather Service in Shreveport said an EF2 tornado was responsible for the damage — the fourth confirmed across East Texas on Friday.

At the camp, about 250 pine trees were twisted, uprooted and knocked down. Six cars in a parking lot were picked up and thrown about 100 yards or more, and dozens more were damaged. Roofs were ripped off buildings at the camp.

For the women who huddled in the hallway as the storm raged on, prayers for protection were answered. No one at the camp was injured.

“The Lord provided protection for us,” said camp administrator Collier “Szyd” Szydloski.

‘In the direct path’

The sky was dark and cloudy Friday afternoon, but nothing seemed to indicate that the storm to come would be all that bad. Rain wasn’t falling at the camp, said Susie Roberts of Longview, a camp volunteer. Camp leaders planned to drive the 131 people at the retreat from the main worship center to the dining hall at approximately 5:50 p.m. Dinner would begin at 6 p.m.

At 5:15 p.m., however, a tornado warning was issued for the area, and their plans changed. All the attendees went to the lower worship center, the “safest place on campus” because it’s built into a hill, Roberts said.

Camp administrators were watching the storm through the windows of the worship center. They turned on a local TV station and heard that a storm had gone through Gilmer and was heading their direction.

“There was finally a lightning strike that lit up the sky enough that we could see the storm,” Roberts said. It was still on the other side of Lone Star Lake. Then the meteorologist on TV said people near the lake and Dangerfield Lake should take cover immediately.

“We were in the direct path,” Roberts said. Then, lighting struck again, and camp leaders could see that the storm had moved “exponentially closer” to the camp. Administrators ordered everyone to get in the worship center’s hallway.

“Everyone was praying out loud, and we heard [the storm], felt it go over the top of us,” Roberts said.

They felt a change in the air pressure “like you were in an airplane,” she said. “We heard the debris flying.”

The women were in the hallway for about an hour. They broke out into songs of praise and worship, “and we were thankful to be alive,” Roberts said.

A young woman, 37 weeks pregnant, began having contractions, which Szydloski attributed to the “excitement.” Roberts, a retired midwife, assured her that she would be fine.

Camp leaders called 911, and first responders began clearing a path to the camp. By the time an ambulance arrived, the woman’s contractions had eased.

‘It was significant’

The women were released to go into other rooms of the building. They saw the “devastation” outside, Roberts said.

“It was significant,” she said. Vehicles were heavily damaged, some destroyed.

Roberts’ car was thrown about 100 yards. She took a photo beside it as it lay in a mess of downed trees. She smiled and gave two “thumbs up” in the picture.

At one point, the women were evacuated from the worship center to the dining hall and walked through the glass-covered parking lot. Part of the ceiling in the dining hall had caved in, but nothing in the building — papers, table decorations — was moved, Roberts said.

Women were evacuated from the camp during a several-hour period, and Roberts was one of the last there when another tornado warning was issued. She and several other women returned to the lower worship center, but the warning didn’t last long.

They left the camp in a truck, but after they drove a ways down the road, they realized the back window had been shattered and had holes in it. It could blow out at any minute. They parked the truck and got in another vehicle and headed home.

At 6:30 a.m. Saturday, camp staff met to begin clean-up efforts. But before they lifted a finger, they had a devotional and prayed.

They put “first things first,” Roberts said.

Had the warning not been issued at 5:15 p.m. Friday, the women would have gone ahead with their plans to eat dinner at 6 p.m. They would have been driving vehicles between the worship center and dining hall — perhaps the worst place they could have been.

“The tornado warning and God’s hand saved our lives, without a doubt,” Roberts said. “God protected us.”

While numerous pine trees were toppled and all kinds of other damage was done, the steeple on top of the worship center is still standing.

‘Like a war zone’

Lakeview is a Southern Baptist camp that hosts summer camps, church retreats and more on its 60-acre property. It has enough dormitories to house 450 people at a time. The camp sites beside Ellison Creek Reservoir, which is better known as Lone Star Lake.

“It was a beautiful place,” Szydloski said. “It doesn’t look too pretty now.”

A tree fell on top of the camp’s main worship center, and the roof was ripped off another building. Five trees fell on top of another building, and half the roof was ripped off the gymnasium. Most of the camp will remain without power for a week of two.

“It looks like a war zone out here now,” he said. “We had a beautiful canopy of trees, and there’s nothing now.”

Members of Texas on Mission, a storm recovery operation led by Baptist men, are in Lone Star to help community members recover. Then they’ll assist at the camp, Szydloski said. About 60 men arrived Monday to help with the recovery efforts. Workers from insurance companies and electric cooperative workers are on the scene to begin restoration efforts.

Whatever comes, Szydloski’s not worried.

“The Lord’s provided everything we need so far, so I’m not gonna complain,” he said.