HGTV Stars Jenny & Dave Marrs and Their Kids Get Trapped During Ferocious Tornado
Hosts of Fixer to Fabulous Jenny and Dave Marrs did not have the family trip they were expecting. In fact, they feel grateful to have survived the weekend at all after the Marrs family found themselves in the middle of a violent tornado.
On a vacation with their five children and four animals in Rogers, Arkansas on May 26, the HGTV stars were unknowingly located in one of the hardest-hit areas during a torrential storm. As reported by Heavy, the family ended up being trapped inside a closet, fearing for their safety.
The incident was so frightening that their youngest child, Luke, was “terrified” and vomited twice “out of fear.”
Though the weather had been forecasted to be stormy, the family could not have prepared for what actually transpired.
On Instagram, Jenny writes, “A tornado went through our town last night. A tree is on our neighbor’s house and our power is out. We are barricaded in by trees in the road. But we are safe.” Pictured with the caption is a series of videos and photos of the damage done to their surrounding woods. In one photo, large fallen tree branches sit atop their car.
The family simply wanted to get away for Memorial Day weekend.
“The Memorial Weekend getaway we planned as a family didn’t quite turn out the way we had hoped but, again, we are safe. Nothing else matter,” the caption continues.
In her recounting of the events, their night sounds nothing short of harrowing.
“At 2 am, we sat in a tiny closet with seven people, two dogs, a bearded dragon and a lamb and prayed aloud while the storm passed through. Poor Lukey was terrified and vomited twice out of fear. Sylvie soothed Tommy the lamb in her arms, Charlotte shivered and nestled into the crook of my arm and the big boys kept reassuring their siblings it would be ok. They were all so brave.”
The caption confirmed that despite the damage done to the local area, the family’s Welcome Inn and nearby farm had both sustained minor damages – a near-miraculous feat considering FOX Weather had reported their area as the hardest-hit during the storm.
“There’s a lot of clean up ahead. We have to figure out how to get home because a tree is on Dave’s truck, my car is at a marina that we don’t know the extent of the damage and the roads are blocked by trees and down power lines,” the caption reads.
With their blessings “counted,” the Marrs family shifts their attention now to the rebuilding their community around them, which the Weather Channel called “unrecognizable.”
“So many neighbors have damage to their homes and businesses,” writes Jenny. “We have been getting updates all morning and the widespread damage is devastating for our town. Please keep northwest Arkansas in your prayers, friends.”
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