PORT ARTHUR, Texas — On the corner of 13th and Vicksburg Avenue in Port Arthur, what used to be a place of worship is now gone.
"Once it said take cover take cover I stripped the window open and then I saw it was coming down the road you can see the twister coming down the road," said Port Arthur resident Jake Johnson.
Johnson lives across the street from Progressive Baptist Church.
Driving through the area, the damage is so extensive that it's hard to tell it was once a church.
"Once it came down the road it went in the parking lot and straight into that building," Johnson said.
Walter Allen Sr. has been the pastor at the church for four decades. He says this is not the first time the church has experienced extensive damage.
"We've had situations where we've had some some crisis going on, [during the] severe winter storm [the] sanctuary was damaged. God blessed us to recover. Harvey, the whole thing was down... God bless this we came back even stronger. So here we go again... God bless, we know he will, and we're gonna come back even stronger," Pastor Allen said.
The roof at Progressive Baptist Church collapsed and the walls are caved in. These are visual reminders of the storms that raced through the area early Wednesday morning.
"When it hit that church, I saw the church explode!" Johnson told 12News.
Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie has offered Pastor Allen to host services at Hannah Funeral Home, where Bartie is the funeral director, until they get back on their feet.