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'And then the hail came'
If home is truly where the heart is, then Ellen Smith's heart is nestled among the cedar trees on a plot of ground south of Nevada.
Her mobile home is modest by most standards, but it is where she has lived for more than 20 years -- where she spent the last 10 years of his life taking care of her bed-ridden husband.
It may not be idyllic, but it was comfortable. And until a hail storm roared through the county two weeks ago, it put a dry roof over her head.
Now she doesn't know what tomorrow my bring.
She needs help.
Smith was alone in the trailer when she heard the hail start coming down. She gathered her dogs and huddled in her small bedroom as the fierce wind blew outside. Suddenly, she heard glass breaking. Then more glass, this time the window over the head of her bed.
Reaching across the bed, she grabbed a pillow and stuffed in the window.
When the hail -- which measured about 1 1/2 inches in diameter -- finally stopped, every window in Smith's trailer was gone, along with most of the roof. Water poured through the ceiling so quickly, she said she had a stream in the hallway.
Neighbor Matt Monroe was at home when it began hailing and he rushed over to Smith's to help.
"I came to see if she was all right," he recalled. "I thought I had better come over and see how Ms. Ellen was doing."
He was surprised by what he saw.
"Over the kitchen and back edge, it's basically a hole," he said. "I had no idea it was going to be like that.
He was more disturbed by Smith's condition.
"She was crying and upset," he said. "I told her to go over to the house and I would see what I could do."
He got some plywood and covered the windows and despite the heavy rain, managed to get a tarp down over the battered roof. The tarp is not much help.
"It rains over the bed," she said. "It rains over the couch. Every room in the house is leaking."
Smith has a bucket dangling over her bed to catch water and hopefully keep her bed dry enough that she can sleep. One night last week, she emptied the bucket nine times throughout the night.
"It's ruining the inside" she said, showing the hallway with the ceiling coming down.
Disabled and living on Social Security, Smith said she could not afford insurance on the trailer and now she can't afford to fix it. She fears repairs will cost more than the mobile home is worth.
She said she has no intention of leaving. She doesn't really have any place to go.
"I have got to live with it," she said.
Besides, she has seven dogs that have been dropped off by people who for whatever reason, didn't want them anymore.
"Somebody has to take care of them," she said.
A small cemetery beside her trailer is for the dogs that don't make it.
She is not sure where to turn, but had planned Friday to contact the American Red Cross and go contact county's emergency management agency.
"I may have to replace one window at a time," she said. "But the roof; I don't know what to do about that."