JARRELL, Texas — On May 27, 25 years ago, the largest F-5 tornado recorded in Texas descended on the Town of Jarrell. It claimed the lives of 27 people.
Sheri Strotheide still remembers those people today.
Strotheide was at a baseball game in Cooper, Texas when she first learned what had happened.
"A girl came to me and said 'Sheri your hometown has been wiped out by a tornado!'" Strotheide said. "We left in the night to get there. My friend took me."
Strotheide then learned that the tornado had, in fact, struck her families house while two of her sisters were home. The tornado destroyed every single room except a bedroom and a bathroom. Fortunately, her sisters had made it to the bathroom.
"They got into the bathtub and covered up with every blanket and pillow in the house," Strotheide said.
The family reunited outside the house in the morning. Strotheide's mother and stepfather had been across town when the tornado struck. But as the cleanup began, they soon learned others had not been as lucky.
"The devastation was just unbelievable. I have never seen such destruction in my life," Strotheide said. "We lost friends. My kids... the two best friends they always played with when they came to visit my mom, they were killed. It was devastating for my kids."
The memorial outside the Jarrell Community Center now bears the names of Cynthia Smith, 36, Brandi Smith, 13, and Stacy Smith, 10, along with many others.
Strotheide later heard a radio report that said one of her work friends had been killed as well as her son. The memorial lists her work friend, Bernice Gower and her 11-year-old, Brian as well.
As the community started to clear up the damage, they found others they may or may not have known.
"Everybody who helped clear up, I know for a fact, saw more than they needed to see. I saw a couple of things I wish I never would have saw," Strotheide said.
Today, Strotheide no longer lives in Texas. She still has a few personal photos of friends that were lost safely tucked away. And while Strotheide no longer tries to memorialize the day, it seems even her body won't let her forget it.
"Every year, on that day, whether I think of it that morning or not, it's like my body knows it's that day," Strotheide said.
Strotheide told 6 News earlier in the week she still remembers sudden feelings of tiredness, sadness, and depression last year.
"And then my son called me. I told him how I was feeling and he said 'I know why...Every year you feel this way on this day mom. Today is May 27,'" Strotheide told 6 News.
Strotheide now lives in a home with a basement for shelter, just in case. Twenty-five years later she still carries some memories like they were yesterday.
She also holds a permanent respect for nature's wrath.
"The Jarrell tornado showed us what can happen. Whether it happens again around us or not, we are very aware of what they can do," Strotheide said.