JARRELL, Texas - It's been 20 years since Priscilla King came face-to-face with a powerful tornado.

"My only way to describe it is it was a huge vertical cloud. It didn't have a bottom," she said.

A Look Back: 20th Anniversary of Jarrell Tornado

She saw it approaching while working in a child care facility along I-35. People ran to her business, seeking refuge.

"You watch it and you know how dangerous it is, but you realize there's literally nothing you can do," she said.

Then something happened.

"This tornado came close to my gate and then it turned off to the west. So I thought, we probably had dodged a bullet, if you will," King said. "God was just with us that day."

But not everyone was so fortunate. Dozens of people lost their lives May 27th, 1997 in the Double Creek Estates and in another neighborhood west of the highway.

Among the 27 people killed was a family of five. The Igo family used to live on the property where the Jarrell Memorial Park now stands.

"Everything was just gone. Those site built homes had just been like somebody taking their hand and just completely wiped them," reminisced Williamson County Sheriff’s Commander James David. "It definitely changed a lot of lives that day."

Homes reduced to rubble, pavements ripped off the road and people were gone.

It took weeks to clean up the physical damage. Other damage takes longer to heal.

"One thing I'll never forget is the smell - just the new earth that had been turned over, the gas lines. It's hard to explain,” said David. “But still to this day, every time I get out there, I smell that smell."

The scent of a painful past that will slowly fade, but never really go away.

"The tornado doesn't define us, but it's definitely part of our history," said David.

Sheriff's officials said the tragedy changed how they respond to severe weather. Now, they move ahead of the storm by sending out warnings through reverse 911 in affected areas.

A 20th anniversary memorial service in Jarrell is planned for May 27. It’ll be at 212 N 5th Street from 3 to 4 p.m.

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