John Alberigi III and his wife Catline “Charley” Dahlonega lost everything when a tornado sped up U.S. 98 North on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Everything, that is, except each other.
As she sifted through the debris on her property, Charley said she and her husband were sitting in the living room when the tornado hit. They had no warning and really no place to hide anyway. The tornado lifted their entire mobile home up into the air and then blew it apart, throwing both of them across the property. John was buried under rubble on the neighboring land belonging to Judge Bill Wallace, she said. She ended up under her dryer. Both cats were gone, but one turned up under the neighbor’s porch. “She won’t let me get her yet. She’s scared. They went through this just like we did. But Erica is feeding her,” said Charley.The couple were both taken to hospital, and Charley spent four days in ICU. John, who has dementia, had every rib broken as well as his arm and shoulder. In total, he had 22 breaks, all inoperable. He is in a rehab in Vero Beach, and Charley visits him every day. She said he does not know how he was injured but has a great attitude towards it, telling everyone jokes and then holding his stomach so it won’t hurt so bad to laugh.
John and Charley were in the process of selling their home so they could move closer to family when the storm hit. Just the day before, with the help of new friends, Pastor Matt Eggerton and his wife Amy, they were preparing for an estate sale and had everything neatly displayed in the barn which has now been destroyed as well.
Despite her own injuries, Charley is hard at work just about every day, looking through the piles of dirt and debris, in the hope she will find some of their things. “I don’t have time to lay around and cry,” she said. “There is too much to do.”
Charley has not been working alone. Former sheriff candidate Steve Weikert was told of the need and went out to offer his help. He soon recruited young Coulton Courson, who owns Courson’s Land Services LLC. Courson has been working tirelessly cleaning up all the storm debris spread over three properties and is doing this free of charge. “He is an honest young man,” said Charley. “If he finds anything he thinks I might want, he brings it to me. Most storm cleanup crews would just throw everything out like it was garbage. He’s been so great.”Matt and his wife have not only been working to help Charley recover her belongings, but they also took her into their home. “Well, she doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” he said. “We have enough room, so why not open our home to someone who needs help?”
Matt couldn’t say enough about Colten. “If I ever meet his parents, I’m going to tell them they raised a good young man.”
Matt, Charley and Coulton have been working hard but could use more help. The job is overwhelming. If you would like to volunteer, you can call 330-401-5447.
If nothing else, it will be worth your time just to meet Charley and John. Charley said her nickname came about because she drives an antique Harley and an antique Chevy.
John was a racecar driver before he retired. He even built them, said Charley.
As if it weren’t enough to experience the loss the storm caused, Charley said someone broke into her shed and stole some of the only things they still had. Unfortunately, the couple is uninsured and have lost everything. A family member established a GoFundMe to try to get some help for them. This can be found here https://gofund.me/6b59ccee.