Relying on faith, friends, family, strangers: Wellington family's tale of tornado survival

WELLINGTON — The boarded and shuttered single-story home on the cul-de-sac on Canosa Court in the Lakefield Community of the village was eerily quiet.

Lifeless.

Homeowner Carter McMasters, the popular teacher and coach at Wellington Landings Middle School, negotiated the darkness, pointing to where the golf cart that was lifted into the garage ceiling sat, where the barrier that separated the garage from the playroom once stood, where the wall between the family room and master bedroom came crashing down on the bed.

And the saferoom where Carter, his wife Danielle and their children, 6-year-old Riley and 4-year-old Hudson, hunkered when an EF3 tornado, one with 140-mph winds, spawned by Hurricane Milton ripped through the western communities, leaving a 21-mile swath of destruction.

That room, a walk-in closet approximately 4 feet by 4 feet, separating the master bedroom from the bathroom, is now empty, save shelves and racks to hang clothes. But on Oct. 9, around 4:45 p.m., with Danielle having prepared the area with pillows and a lantern, the family took shelter.

"I've heard it a couple times before," said Carter, 34, who was raised in Tennessee, about the terrifying sound of an approaching tornado. "But this time was like no other. It was on top of us."

Carter, a former college basketball player who is 6 feet, 11 inches, went into what he calls his "Papa Bear" mode.

"His body covered all of ours," Danielle, 36, said.

'Pray, mommy, pray'

That early afternoon when the tornado hit, Carter McMasters was flipping between weather channels and local news and Danielle was on a Zoom meeting. As Hudson was sleeping, Riley was preparing in case the worst was about to happen.

Then it did.

When the first phone alert went off, it was Riley who headed for the closet.

"She went right in," Danielle said. "She's like, 'We just did a drill at school, mommy, go to your safe place.' "

As Carter was smothering his family, the door to the closet blew in, falling on top of him.

"(Riley) just kept saying 'pray, mommy, pray,'" Danielle said. "I just thought that was so beautiful. Here's this little kid whose first instinct is faith."

By then the pressure started dropping, causing pain Carter and Danielle will not forget. Danielle's ears ached for hours.

"It's so loud, but the immense pressure at that point ... the entire atmosphere changes," Carter said. "The storm is over your house and so your ears pop, your head feels like it's about to explode."

Trying to downplay the horror: 'If you see bad, it's OK'

The nightmare felt like an eternity, but in reality was seconds. Once Carter realized his family was unharmed, he emerged to a home covered in glass, a hole in the bedroom roof, the front door and back slider blown out, and walls that were blown down.

This after Carter had shuttered most of the home, anticipating tropical storm-force winds from a hurricane projected to remain more than 100 miles away.

Carter's primary mission was protecting his family.

"Our house is hurt," Carter told Riley and Hudson as he pulled them closer. "But you guys are not. I want you to realize that. If you see bad, it's OK."

Carter looked through the bedroom and saw a gaping hole that once was a sliding glass door. He then recognized the debris that had been sucked out of the home, now sitting in his yard.

"Everything that we've kind of owned is in that little area," he said of the pile. "I was just at a loss for words. I actually ... I think I probably laughed for about 30 seconds because it was just the sheer force of it and the feeling of just like there's nothing you can do. It could have been shock, whatever, but I laughed."

Family, friends, strangers rushed to help: 'I mean, the entire block'

The tornado, it was later learned, was an EF3, one of the more powerful. The twister that started in Wellington and moved through The Acreage, western Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter Farms, was one of 15 tornadoes that hit South Florida that day, including one in the Treasure Coast that killed seven. The tornado that hit Wellington caused some injuries but no deaths were reported.

The common theme told by those impacted by the tornadoes was that their communities came to help immediately.

And that certainly was the case for the McMasters.

Family, friends, even strangers.

"I'm telling you, the entire community ascended on our property within the hour," Carter said. "I mean, the entire block. The SUVs. This entire area. And they're all coming here looking to help.

"I'm taken aback by that. That's the coolest thing. The community just getting together and coming back to help, and it's just been constant since minute zero."

That support continued the next day and the next. And more after that.

'They're usually the givers and not the receivers'

The day after the tornado hit, before the McMasters returned to their home, Christa McNeill and her husband, Shannon, who own McNeill Labor Management, rounded up about 15 volunteer workers from Belle Glade to help with cleanup.

They removed debris from the inside and outside the home, covered the roof with blue tarp and secured the home with plywood.

Christa coached softball with Carter at Landings Middle School when Carter arrived 10 years ago. Carter, currently the PE teacher and Athletic Director, also coaches girls' basketball and boys' and girls' volleyball.

Danielle, now an online teacher for Liberty University, taught for 10 years at Wellington Landings.

"They give so much back to their community teaching kids, they're such devout Christians, they do so much for so many people," Christa said. "They have an entourage of people that wanted to help them in their time of need.

"And they don't ever ask for anything. They're usually the givers and not the receivers. They're having a hard time with all the help."

A GoFundMe page was set up with a goal of $65,000. One week after the storm it had surpassed $85,000.

Carter is uncomfortable with the idea.

"I don't want to feel like the village charity case," he said. "That's been the hardest thing to wrestle with.

"There are people right across the street back here that need it more than I do. It wasn't like I got angry but it's really hard to be OK with accepting all these blessings. But it can only lead to me passing it on, too."

Giving thanks for what they still have - each other

The McMasters have leaned on their faith during the recovery. Five days after the tornado, they invited family and friends, including fellow members at Christ Fellowship Church, to worship and pray.

They are thankful for what they still have ... which is each other.

With the house uninhabitable, the approximately 50 guests gathered on the back patio.

The day, they said, was not unlike any other at the McMasters home, which has an "open door policy" and often is a flurry of activity, including a weekly Bible study.

"I knew that God had his hand in our safety," Carter said. Then, pointing toward his house, he added: "That protected us. God ultimately did, first and foremost. But that thing took a beating. That's a well-made structure."

That morning, Carter spray-painted psalms on the plywood covering the garage and front doors: Psalm 34 and Psalm 18:1-3.

About 45 minutes before the tornado hit, Danielle was meeting with co-workers. They were in prayer time and she was looking for a verse to share.

She opened her bible to Psalm 18.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler.

"And then an hour later, he literally was our protector, our rock, our refuge, our strength, as we hid in that closet," she said.

Carter encouraged the children who visited Monday to take a Sharpie and add to his artwork. Anything they chose. A message. A drawing. "They could play tic-tac-toe," he said.

Many chose a Bible verse.

Their stuff was gone but, in the big picture, it's just stuff

The front of the McMasters' home is partially obscured by a large pile of debris waiting to be hauled away. Lawn chairs, a bike, a tennis racket, a paddleboard, a mattress, linens, blankets and pillows.

"It's stuff," Carter said. "I'm sorry. I never grew up with things having intrinsic value. That's not who I am. I value people more, and I'm just, like, 'I can replace that. I can replace that. Actually, I don't need that. I hadn't seen that for years.' "

Something that Carter and Danielle will have to replace is their vehicles. When they left the house after the tornado passed, the white 2014 Honda Pilot SUV and navy 2019 GMC Acadia SUV that sat in the driveway were missing.

"It looked like a scene from a movie I will never forget, and we didn't want the kids to see it," Danielle said about first stepping outside. "I said, 'Babe, I'm going to get my car and I'm going to drive the kids to my sisters, and then I'll come back.'

"So I run outside, and then I go, 'Our cars are not here. Our cars are gone!'"

They were located in the backyard. The Honda was on its roof entangled in a large tree that had toppled.

It is suspected at least one vehicle, likely the Honda, flew over the house.

After the immediate chaos ... where were his golf bag and clubs?

The McMasters' home sits on the 12th green of the Wanderers Club. The 12th hole is a par-5 that allows Carter to practice his chipping and putting late on days when members have finished their rounds.

The twister touched down a few miles to the southwest, hitting Rustic Ranches before crossing Flying Cow Road and making a straight line along the 13th fairway south of the McMasters, impacting many homes along Corsida Drive. It roared above the homes at the end of Canosa Court before continuing into the Meadow Wood community.

Both sides of Flying Cow Road were littered with debris, including shredded aluminum, bright yellow pieces of insulation ...

And perhaps Carter's golf clubs.

Carter kept his clubs in his car, along with his golf shoes and a golf shirt. Fearing he would sound insensitive, he was reluctant to say how much time had passed before he thought about his clubs.

Then he looked for Danielle and realized she was too far away to hear.

"OK, my wife's over there right now," he said. "So I would say I thought about my golf clubs within the first two hours. I'm sorry. I did. Once my family's OK anything else is kind of like a joke at that point."

Carter found his putter in two pieces stabbed into the turf on the 12th fairway. Later, friends spotted his 6-iron and 7-iron across the fairway near the canal separating Lakefield from Meadow Wood.

Carter's bag and the rest of his clubs remain missing.

After playing basketball most of his life — at Grace Baptist Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee and in college at Liberty University and Palm Beach Atlantic University — Carter, who has a degree in sport management, has become a golf junkie.

He plays and caddies at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where he can be found most weekends and holidays during the season.

Finding grandparents' prayer card

The McMasters are living with Danielle's sister and her husband, Diana and Rob Danion, and their two children. The Danions live in the Binks Forest section of Wellington, parts of which also were in the tornado's path. Their home was spared.

The first night in their temporary home was hard for the children. Riley would not leave her parents' side.

"I don't want her to be afraid," Carter said. "Fear can just absolutely close you in and that's not fair to her at a young age. The second night she relaxed a little more, slept in a separate bed, but in our room."

The immediate days after the storm were filled with recovery efforts, dealing with insurance and speaking with contractors. The McMasters were told best-case scenario they could move back into their home in five to seven months. That is if everything goes off without interruptions or setbacks.

They mentally are preparing for a year.

Monday, after their guests departed and Carter and Danielle continued to check in with neighbors, Danielle was walking through the front yard and spotted a small photo on the lawn next to the pile of debris.

It was a prayer card the family had printed to honor Danielle's grandparents, Arlene Tate and Pastor Jim Tate, who died within three months of each other in 2022.

Their smiling faces were looking up at their granddaughter.

The card was a bit crinkled and had been exposed to the rain. But considering what had taken place, how this card could have been swept up in the wind and blown miles away, this could be considered a miracle.

"It's life right now," Danielle said. "It's metaphorical."

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at