Family survived horrific tornado by huddling in concrete safe room
By
Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 14, 2020 7:32 PM EDT
Dozens of tornadoes left damage paths throughout the southern U.S. Some were deadly in Mississippi, Georgia and Arkansas where more than a dozen people died.
Easter morning, Andrew Phillips, his wife and two kids, ages 2 and 6 months, huddled into a closet-sized "safe room." Earlier that morning they had been watching an online Easter service due to the COVID-19 pandemic when Phillips, a volunteer firefighter, started tracking the severe weather with the help of a fire radio. As the storm beared down on their home, Phillips glanced outside for a moment, spotting the funnel cloud. Rushing back into the house and grabbing more pillows, he ducked inside the safe room with his family, shielding them with his body.
"I was in there about 20 seconds when it hit," Phillips told The Associated Press.
The cinderblock room had been one of the reasons they had bought the house, which they had only lived in for a few weeks, Phillips told the AP.
The tornado left next to nothing in its wake -- destroying the family's home, the building of their meat processing business and their car. But the safe room stood, and the family emerged unharmed.
"The more I look at what is left of our house it makes me think of the tomb Jesus Christ was in," Phillips wrote in a Facebook post on Monday with a picture of the open safe room, the only part of the house left standing. "We was in there Jesus protected us. But after the storm was over the tomb was empty, we came out alive just like Jesus did for you."
In the rural town of Moss, Mississippi, the Phillips family had weathered the outbreak of severe storms that killed at least 34 people across six states early in the week. The powerful storms tore up trees, power lines and even uprooted homes, leaving half a million without power.
The majority of the fatalities occurred in Mississippi with 12 deaths. South Carolina recorded nine deaths, followed by Georgia with eight. Tennessee reported three deaths and Arkansas and North Carolina both reported one. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi declared a state of emergency in response to the devastating storms.
"We saw more tragedy in the midst of what is already one of the most trying times our state has endured," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said over social media, referencing dealing with the severe weather amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 34 fatalities from this outbreak of violent weather pushed 2020 ahead as the deadliest year for tornadoes since 2012, which had 68 total fatalities from tornadoes. As of Tuesday evening, 67 deaths in 2020 have been attributed to tornadoes. During 2011, the U.S. saw a total of 553 deaths to tornadoes, making it the second deadliest year on record.
From Sunday through Monday, from Texas to New York, there were about 860 storm reports from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda. He noted that although there had been 88 preliminary tornado reports throughout the timespan, that didn't necessarily mean there had been that many tornadoes due to the possibility of multiple reports for one tornado.
"While it was certainly an eye-opening and, for some, a devastating storm, these types of storms are not particularly uncommon in the U.S. during the spring," Sojda said.
He attributed part of devastation to the area the storm had hit, striking the more densely populated southern region of the U.S. compared to the southern Plains where communities tend to be spread farther apart, providing a better chance for tornadoes to pass through more open fields and plains without causing as much damage.
"Another part is timing," Sojda said. "Many of the injuries and fatalities from this storm occurred with strong tornadoes that struck late at night. It's very important to be aware of when the worst weather may hit an area."
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National Weather Service (NWS) survey teams from the Jackson, Mississippi, office have preliminarily rated the long-tracking tornado that struck southwest of Bassfield as an EF4 with peak winds of 170 mph. The tornado that tracked through Lawrence, Jeff Davis and Marion counties was given a preliminary rating of an EF2, and the second long-track tornado in Lawrence and Smith counties as an EF3. The finalized ratings of these may change as survey teams continue to assess the damage.
After announcing a handful of EF4 and EF3 tornadoes from the weekend on Monday, survey teams continue their work into Tuesday. Three more tornadoes were rated by the Jackson, Mississippi, office Tuesday evening, an EF2 and two EF1s.
The NWS office in Columbia, South Carolina, had found EF3 damage near Livingston, South Carolina, which had at least two fatalities associated with it. The office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, found the Pickens-Greenville County tornado had left EF2 damage and EF3 damage from the tornado that passed through parts of Oconee and Pickens counties.
The deluge of rainfall from the storms also set a new daily rainfall record of 2.23 inches in Nashville on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 2.07 inches set on April 12, 1949.
Drone footage from the hardest-hit communities shows nothing more than rubble where homes once stood, most with barely any walls standing, if any. In Soso, Mississippi, just the foundation is left of one home. The rest of of the structure lies strewn about in the surrounding field. Debris was tossed into some nearby trees that hadn’t been uprooted by the unforgiving winds.
Broadcast Meteorologist James Spann posted on social media about photos that were found in West Alabama on Monday. One of them captured three young trick-or-treaters dressed up and holding bags of candy. A day later, a man identified it as an old family photo of him, his brother and sister, claiming it had traveled from Moss, Mississippi, to Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, about 121 miles away. The man also sent in a photo of his grandparents' demolished house the photo had been swept away from. One person who had lived in the home was reported to be in critical condition.
Social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic had shutdown tornado shelters in a few communities, leaving people to shelter in their homes. A handful of homes were destroyed in Monroe, Louisiana, and reports emerged of people trapped after a tornado hit shortly before noon on Easter Sunday.
Felicia Thomas and her daughter Cynthia were two of the people trapped in their homes along with three young children until their neighbor Jared Moore came to their rescue, according to ABC News.
"Gotta help them," Moore told ABC News in response to what his first instinct was in the moment. "Get them out...if we don’t get them out, they’re not gonna make it."
The tornado that hit Monroe was rated on Monday as an EF3. No deaths have been reported in the area.
In Mississippi, a few communities did leave shelters open, where people who did come showed up with face masks and still tried to keep their distance.
"At the end of the day, life safety had to persist over everything else," Greg Michel, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency executive director told AccuWeather’s Jonathan Petramala over a Skype interview. "The greater risk of the tornado had to overcome the COVID."
Satellite images show farm buildings and homes before and after an EF-4 tornado tracked across Seminary, Mississippi, on Sunday, April 12. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
The EF-4 tornado in Mississippi that tracked 68 miles from near Bassfield in Jefferson Davis County to around Pachuta in Clarke County now stands as the widest tornado on record for the state with a maximum path witdth of 2 1/4 miles, according to the NWS. It is the third widest tornado on record for the United States.
Although the storms are over, the pandemic continues to have an impact on areas recovering from the violent weather.
In Louisiana, a state that has reported no fatalities from the severe weather outbreak, Gov. John Bel Edwards said it was "a miracle" that no one in the state had been seriously injured or killed, according to the AP. However, due to the coronavirus mandates, he felt unable to go to visit the victims who had lost their property.
In other areas, preventive measures may have saved lives from more than just the virus. The steeple of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in northern Alabama caught fire when lightning struck on Sunday afternoon. Pastor Mahlon LeCroix told the AP that if not for the pandemic forcing him to switch to online services, the church would have been filled with more than 200 people.
"It turned out to be a blessing," he told the AP.
Though the pandemic has interfered with how communities prepared for the storms and how they will recover, nothing else has changed.
"We will rebuild after these storms just as we do after hurricanes and how we are battling the Coronavirus – together," McMaster said.
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News / Severe Weather
Family survived horrific tornado by huddling in concrete safe room
By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 14, 2020 7:32 PM EDT
Dozens of tornadoes left damage paths throughout the southern U.S. Some were deadly in Mississippi, Georgia and Arkansas where more than a dozen people died.
Easter morning, Andrew Phillips, his wife and two kids, ages 2 and 6 months, huddled into a closet-sized "safe room." Earlier that morning they had been watching an online Easter service due to the COVID-19 pandemic when Phillips, a volunteer firefighter, started tracking the severe weather with the help of a fire radio. As the storm beared down on their home, Phillips glanced outside for a moment, spotting the funnel cloud. Rushing back into the house and grabbing more pillows, he ducked inside the safe room with his family, shielding them with his body.
"I was in there about 20 seconds when it hit," Phillips told The Associated Press.
The cinderblock room had been one of the reasons they had bought the house, which they had only lived in for a few weeks, Phillips told the AP.
The tornado left next to nothing in its wake -- destroying the family's home, the building of their meat processing business and their car. But the safe room stood, and the family emerged unharmed.
"The more I look at what is left of our house it makes me think of the tomb Jesus Christ was in," Phillips wrote in a Facebook post on Monday with a picture of the open safe room, the only part of the house left standing. "We was in there Jesus protected us. But after the storm was over the tomb was empty, we came out alive just like Jesus did for you."
In the rural town of Moss, Mississippi, the Phillips family had weathered the outbreak of severe storms that killed at least 34 people across six states early in the week. The powerful storms tore up trees, power lines and even uprooted homes, leaving half a million without power.
The majority of the fatalities occurred in Mississippi with 12 deaths. South Carolina recorded nine deaths, followed by Georgia with eight. Tennessee reported three deaths and Arkansas and North Carolina both reported one. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi declared a state of emergency in response to the devastating storms.
"We saw more tragedy in the midst of what is already one of the most trying times our state has endured," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said over social media, referencing dealing with the severe weather amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 34 fatalities from this outbreak of violent weather pushed 2020 ahead as the deadliest year for tornadoes since 2012, which had 68 total fatalities from tornadoes. As of Tuesday evening, 67 deaths in 2020 have been attributed to tornadoes. During 2011, the U.S. saw a total of 553 deaths to tornadoes, making it the second deadliest year on record.
From Sunday through Monday, from Texas to New York, there were about 860 storm reports from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda. He noted that although there had been 88 preliminary tornado reports throughout the timespan, that didn't necessarily mean there had been that many tornadoes due to the possibility of multiple reports for one tornado.
"While it was certainly an eye-opening and, for some, a devastating storm, these types of storms are not particularly uncommon in the U.S. during the spring," Sojda said.
He attributed part of devastation to the area the storm had hit, striking the more densely populated southern region of the U.S. compared to the southern Plains where communities tend to be spread farther apart, providing a better chance for tornadoes to pass through more open fields and plains without causing as much damage.
"Another part is timing," Sojda said. "Many of the injuries and fatalities from this storm occurred with strong tornadoes that struck late at night. It's very important to be aware of when the worst weather may hit an area."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
National Weather Service (NWS) survey teams from the Jackson, Mississippi, office have preliminarily rated the long-tracking tornado that struck southwest of Bassfield as an EF4 with peak winds of 170 mph. The tornado that tracked through Lawrence, Jeff Davis and Marion counties was given a preliminary rating of an EF2, and the second long-track tornado in Lawrence and Smith counties as an EF3. The finalized ratings of these may change as survey teams continue to assess the damage.
After announcing a handful of EF4 and EF3 tornadoes from the weekend on Monday, survey teams continue their work into Tuesday. Three more tornadoes were rated by the Jackson, Mississippi, office Tuesday evening, an EF2 and two EF1s.
The NWS office in Columbia, South Carolina, had found EF3 damage near Livingston, South Carolina, which had at least two fatalities associated with it. The office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, found the Pickens-Greenville County tornado had left EF2 damage and EF3 damage from the tornado that passed through parts of Oconee and Pickens counties.
The deluge of rainfall from the storms also set a new daily rainfall record of 2.23 inches in Nashville on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 2.07 inches set on April 12, 1949.
Drone footage from the hardest-hit communities shows nothing more than rubble where homes once stood, most with barely any walls standing, if any. In Soso, Mississippi, just the foundation is left of one home. The rest of of the structure lies strewn about in the surrounding field. Debris was tossed into some nearby trees that hadn’t been uprooted by the unforgiving winds.
Broadcast Meteorologist James Spann posted on social media about photos that were found in West Alabama on Monday. One of them captured three young trick-or-treaters dressed up and holding bags of candy. A day later, a man identified it as an old family photo of him, his brother and sister, claiming it had traveled from Moss, Mississippi, to Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, about 121 miles away. The man also sent in a photo of his grandparents' demolished house the photo had been swept away from. One person who had lived in the home was reported to be in critical condition.
Social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic had shutdown tornado shelters in a few communities, leaving people to shelter in their homes. A handful of homes were destroyed in Monroe, Louisiana, and reports emerged of people trapped after a tornado hit shortly before noon on Easter Sunday.
Felicia Thomas and her daughter Cynthia were two of the people trapped in their homes along with three young children until their neighbor Jared Moore came to their rescue, according to ABC News.
"Gotta help them," Moore told ABC News in response to what his first instinct was in the moment. "Get them out...if we don’t get them out, they’re not gonna make it."
The tornado that hit Monroe was rated on Monday as an EF3. No deaths have been reported in the area.
Related:
In Mississippi, a few communities did leave shelters open, where people who did come showed up with face masks and still tried to keep their distance.
"At the end of the day, life safety had to persist over everything else," Greg Michel, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency executive director told AccuWeather’s Jonathan Petramala over a Skype interview. "The greater risk of the tornado had to overcome the COVID."
Satellite images show farm buildings and homes before and after an EF-4 tornado tracked across Seminary, Mississippi, on Sunday, April 12. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
The EF-4 tornado in Mississippi that tracked 68 miles from near Bassfield in Jefferson Davis County to around Pachuta in Clarke County now stands as the widest tornado on record for the state with a maximum path witdth of 2 1/4 miles, according to the NWS. It is the third widest tornado on record for the United States.
Although the storms are over, the pandemic continues to have an impact on areas recovering from the violent weather.
In Louisiana, a state that has reported no fatalities from the severe weather outbreak, Gov. John Bel Edwards said it was "a miracle" that no one in the state had been seriously injured or killed, according to the AP. However, due to the coronavirus mandates, he felt unable to go to visit the victims who had lost their property.
In other areas, preventive measures may have saved lives from more than just the virus. The steeple of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in northern Alabama caught fire when lightning struck on Sunday afternoon. Pastor Mahlon LeCroix told the AP that if not for the pandemic forcing him to switch to online services, the church would have been filled with more than 200 people.
"It turned out to be a blessing," he told the AP.
Though the pandemic has interfered with how communities prepared for the storms and how they will recover, nothing else has changed.
"We will rebuild after these storms just as we do after hurricanes and how we are battling the Coronavirus – together," McMaster said.
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