Marion residents say they had no warning when the massive storm hit the city Saturday evening. High winds and large hail thrust upon them in a instant, and was gone in a matter of minutes, leaving toppled trees and damaged buildings in its wake.

Harris, co-owner of Nathan Harris’ Sons, one of the oldest retail stores in Marion, had just closed his business around 6 p.m. when the storm hit.

Residents say quarter-size hail fell upon the city for the next five to seven minutes before disappearing as quickly as it came.

No other city around Marion, including Selma, was touched by the storm.

Harris considers himself lucky. The roof of his business did not seem to be damaged. Only a part of the metal awning in front of the store had collapsed during the storm.

Other businesses along the downtown area of Marion had roofs blown off and broken windows.

Michael Brooks, associate professor of Communications at Judson College, said one large tree on the campus was uprooted and another was split in two, blocking the main entrance to the college.

Broken tree limbs and debris was still scattered all across the city on Monday as city workers continued their clean-up efforts.

Harris and other residents say they had to do without electricity for almost 23 hours, finally getting their power restored late Sunday evening.

According to Sanderson, the storm followed a path all the way through the city &uot;probably doing as much tree damage as a tornado would.&uot;

Despite claims a tornado had hit the city, Sanderson said the storm never touched the ground.

Some claim the sudden force of nature that hit Marion over the weekend may go down in the city’s history books as one of the strangest events to ever occur.