| " Flashback to February 1998: David Sharp was sleeping in his Sanford home when his son yelled for him to wake up." " Outside, 200-mph winds were pounding the house with debris. The power went off and they were in darkness. Both bolted for a nearby bathroom. His son made it inside, but Sharp didn't -- and the house disintegrated around him." " "I just kneeled down and prayed," David Sharp said of the tornado. "It was raining on me and the roof was gone. It was trying to suck [his son] out, but he held on. We didn't get a scratch."" " Scenes of similar devastation filled the airwaves Friday after a storm front struck Lake and Volusia counties. For survivors of the 1998 storms that devastated Central Florida, killing 42, the scene was familiar." " "It's something you never get over," said Sharp, 63, a retired fence-company owner. "We were in shock for three or four months. You relive it every time it's on TV."" " For some survivors, such as Karen Bourke of Kissimmee, news accounts Friday brought back the horror of huddling in a closet with her husband and two sons as their mobile home was shredded to pieces." " Her youngest son, just 8 months old, was ripped from her husband Guy's arms after he was struck by debris. The infant was found dead in a neighbor's yard." " "I'm scared to look at the news," she said, choking up after recounting her ordeal. "I know it will bring flashbacks."" " The tornadoes that pummeled Central Florida in February 1998 were the worst in the state's history, a night of fury in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties." " Three sets of storms launched twisters starting at 11 p.m. on Feb. 22 from DeLand to Daytona Beach. The second storm touched down in Winter Garden at 11:50 p.m. and skipped through Longwood and Sanford. The third swept between Kissimmee and St. Cloud at 12:55 a.m. on Feb. 23, and moved through northern Brevard County." " Mobile homes were flattened. Roofs were ripped from businesses. Concrete utility poles were snapped. Cars were tossed into homes." " Sharp's wife of 36 years, Janet, who was at work during the storm, still has nightmares. When severe weather approaches, she said Friday, she stays up and watches television to monitor news alerts." " Her husband said the twister destroyed everything they owned, including trucks for the fencing business he owned, and three family vehicles." " But the food, clothing, money and other assistance -- from the Salvation Army, a coalition of churches, private businesses
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