The stories of human endurance, luck, and neighbor helping neighbor continue to pour in following the series of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in the Southeast United States. In St. Elmo, Tenn., one family barely avoided a terrible accident. A tree from their front yard smashed through the house into the bedroom of their 10-year-old son, Robert. The tree landed in the very spot the boy’s bunk bed had been just a week earlier. The family says they were blessed.One University of Alabama student, Adam Melton, told of his harrowing experience. A tornado hit his house, lifting it and a Jeep up into the air. The Jeep flew over his head, and then hit Adam and landed on top of him. He stayed under it until the storm passed. When he got out from underneath the vehicle, the house was completely gone. In an Alabama suburb, one line was repeated constantly as people walked the debris strewn streets, "Alberta is gone. I’ve lost everything." A Facebook page has been set up for important papers and photographs lost in the destruction. People are posting images of found objects so they can be claimed. This storm system has caused the deaths of more than 250 people. Experts and residents alike have called this cluster of 100-plus tornadoes the worst since 1974, the year of a “super outbreak" that killed 350 people.
The Tornado Survivors
2 min read
