Three Children Miraculously Survive Terrifying Twister
It’s like a scene straight out of Lost: Latonya Stevens was at home with her four young children when a tornado hit. The Charlotte mom blacked out and awoke to find only one of her four kids in sight. She totally panicked and assumed that a twister had swept away the other three (ages 3, 4 and 7).
“I was screaming for them,” Stevens told the Associated Press. “…I didn’t know where they were.” The kids were eventually found outside on the ground one of them along a major highway. And in what can only be described as a miracle, they suffered only minor cuts and bruises.
Neither Stevens nor any of the children can recall what happened. All they know is that they were in their bedrooms when the twister approached, and that most of the home’s second floor was swept away. That’s it, really. Which just completely blows my mind.
“Maybe it will come back to us eventually,” said Stevens. “I mean, I’ve sat down and tried to figure out what happened. I don’t know.”
Stevens was at home with the children’s grandmother, Patricia Stevens, when the storms moved in. Their father, Tyrone Stevens, was out with friends. Stevens tells AP that her kids came into her room to watch a Disney movie after the first storm woke them up. They eventually returned to their beds and, half an hour later, a new storm approached. She got up to take care of the children but the house began to shake. That’s when lost consciousness. She awoke holding one of her 3-year-old twins, which is when she started panicking and screaming for her other children.
She handed her little girl to Patricia, who at this point was frantic as well, and began searching outside for her children with the help of neighbors. They were found in various locations, including the family yard, a neighbor’s yard and a highway more than 100 feet away (!).
The children were rushed to the hospital and, miraculously, they suffered from nothing more than a few cuts and bruises.
As frightening as this event must have been for this family and at least some of them will no doubt suffer PTSD it is absolutely amazing to hear that they all survived unhurt. Yesterday we wrote about Stephanie Decker, a brave mom who saved her children’s lives by covering them with her body when a tornado hit their home in Indiana. The kids walked away unhurt but, unfortunately, Decker was not so lucky. She lost both her legs in the incident.
I’ve never seen or heard anything like that,” Patricia Stevens told Reuters about the moment the twister destroyed her family’s home. “It was a terrible sound. I never want to go through that again. I don’t want anyone to ever go through that again.” She went on to say that she’s counting her blessings. “People see the house and they keep saying they can’t believe we got out. They just keep saying that.”
(Photo: Jupiterimages)
