Tornado changes young man's priorities

Winds of change ripped apart Nick Duty's family home April 28 in Louisville.

They also rearranged his priorities.

"All I've been able to think about since the tornado is, if I had died what would people remember about me? How would people have looked at my life? Did I make a difference to anyone?" says Duty, 25. "Me, my brother, my dad, my stepmother ... we were all huddled in a bathroom when that storm literally sat down on top of our house. We heard it when it took off the roof, and we looked up and could see debris spiraling upward. We could have all gone with it."

Ten people died in Winston County as the EF4 tornado roared through, packing winds of more than 180 miles per hour.

"I don't go out much anymore," says Duty, a member of the Air National Guard's 238 Air Support Operations Squadron in Meridian. "I used to go out with my buddies and have a good time once a week. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. And I'm still friends with those guys. But I realize it's time for me to grow up and be an adult. Instead of going out with friends once a week, I'm spending more time with my family. We always did things together, but it seems like every weekend now we go to our family cabin and fish and grill out. Just hang together. You make it through something like that, you don't take each other for granted quite as easily as you once did."

Duty is quick to say "a lot of people had it worse than we did."

He explains: "Some lost loved ones. A whole lot of people lost their homes and every keepsake they ever had. We were lucky in a sense that just about all our family photographs were at the end of the house that had the least amount of damage, and we were able to save those. I lost some furniture that had been passed down to me from my grandparents. But you learn that a couch or a table isn't really a big deal. Folks were burying family members."

And Duty saw it in its most raw form.

His dad, Darrell Duty, is co-owner of Mississippi Granite Works, which sells tombstones. Nick works there.

"I dreaded going in because I knew sooner or later someone from the storm was going to come in," he says. "Sure enough, we helped a young couple who lost an 8-year-old child in the storm get a stone. That was tough. But I also knew we were assisting them in a very personal way. It's made me want to take a more active role in the business."

Duty, who joined the Air Guard in January 2009, probably won't re-enlist so he can work alongside his dad and co-owner Russ Nowell.

His parents are living with his stepmom's mother until a new home can be built on the same site. Construction already has begun.

Darrell and Gina are downsizing from the 2,600-square-foot, four-bedroom home they lived in since 2000, when the family moved to Louisville from Phenix City, Alabama. Duty now has his own place, about six miles away.

"I loved the old house," he says. "There was one bedroom on the entire bottom floor, and I had it. So, basically, I had the whole bottom floor to myself, which was pretty cool."

It was located on Richardson Road, within walking distance of Winston Academy where Duty played football and golf.

"I remember after football games, we would have family members with us who came in from out of town," he says. "One of my fondest memories was walking home and everybody being there, everybody talking about the game."

His granddad, Charles Duty, often made the drive from Alabama to watch him play. He died in 2012.

"Really, the only thing I have to compare this tornado to is losing him," he says. "He's the toughest guy I've ever known. He was born with one leg, and he never let it hold him back. He did maintenance work on all the military bases in Alabama.

"And the way he raised my dad, and then the way my dad raised me ... he meant so much to me and the person I am — and the person I want to be."

The tornado has been taxing in more ways than Duty can count.

"One of the things that people don't think about is the mental strain of seeing the destruction day after day," he says. "One of the biggest reliefs was when they finally bulldozed our house down, and I didn't have to see it anymore.

"But through it all, I can say this without any hesitation: I've never been prouder to be a part of this community. People have pulled together like no one can imagine. Folks who escaped any damage were there in a matter of minutes trying to help those who had been affected. And it hasn't let up.

"These are the kind of people America is all about."

Contact Billy Watkins at (769) 257-3079 or bwatkins@jackson. gannett.com. Follow @BillyWatkins11 on Twitter.

About the series

This is the second to last in a series of stories that looks at how some of the April 28 tornado survivors are coping three months later.