E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAt first glance, the brick-and-steel framed school in Henryville looked like no match for a tornado, but it protected a handful of students and adults who found themselves trapped in a no-man's land. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET: HENRYVILLE, Ind. -- Stories of tragedy and survival were being reported across the Midwest and South on Saturday, but perhaps none as dramatic as those coming from students and school staff in this devastated Indiana town.
A massive twister tore through the area housing Henryville's elementary, middle and high schools just after school was dismissed early due to warnings.
Some buses had to return just after leaving the schools as they saw the twister coming. The 11 children on one of those got off and were ushered into a school building just before the bus was flung into a nearby restaurant.
The driver of another bus had to stop and ask a homeowner to take the students in. "We got on the buses, we started heading to my house and the tornado was following us," one child recounted. "Luckily this woman was so generous to let us stay in her basement."
Henryville Elementary School Principal Glenn Riggs told NBC's TODAY show that he and some 40 students and staff took shelter in three small offices, lying on the floor.
"There was like a decompression," he said. "It felt almost like your skin was going to be peeled off your face and your ears popped. And of course people were a little upset; some of the children were upset."
2012 tornado disaster relief: How to help
When the twister hit, he added, "it was just crash, bang, break ... we knew the school was going up around us, and then the ceilings began to fall apart," sending dust and other debris to the ground before it finally stopped.
Incredible tales of survival emerge as dozens are dead and entire towns are destroyed from a massive outbreak of storms from the Great Lakes to the Gulf coast. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
Amazingly, not a single injury was reported at the campus, much of which was destroyed, or among students sent home by bus.
The students still at school after the twister hit were taken to the local community center to reunite with parents -- but only after a round of baseball-sized hail pounded what was left of the schools.
House 'shook once, and it was gone'
In Washington County, Ind., residents described seeing a massive tornado come over a hill and plow through a grove of trees, which looked almost like a line of bulldozers eight wide had rolled through, crushing the land.
When Gene Lewellyn, his son and his son's 7-year-old daughter saw the tornado come over the hill, they rushed to the basement of his one-story brick home and covered themselves with a carpet. Lewellyn's son laid over his daughter to protect her, and then a black cloud enveloped the house.
Twister-hit areas told to expect snow
Severe storms and tear through the midwest and southern states.
"It just shook once, and it (the house) was gone," said Lewellyn, 62.
His family was safe, but their home was reduced to a pile of bricks with sheet metal wrapped around splintered trees. Pieces of insulation coated the ground, and across the street a large trailer picked up by the storm had landed on top of a boat. Lewellyn spent Saturday picking through the debris in 38-degree cold.
"Right now, we are not sure what we are going to do," he said. "We will get out what we can get out. Hopefully, we won't have to argue from the insurance company very much."
Child, great grandparents killed
In Chelsea, a man, woman and their 4-year-old great-grandchild died. The child and his mother were huddled in a basement when the storm hit and sucked the child out of her hands.
The mother survived, but her 70-year-old grandparents were upstairs; both died.
"She was in the cellar with the boy when the tornado hit. It blew him right out of her hands," neighbor Tony Williams said. "They found the bodies in the field outside," he added, referring to the boy and his great grandparents.
Williams said 60 local school children took refuge in his store overnight. "The bus drivers did a great job. We had them in a back room with no windows," he said.
Across southeastern Indiana, neighbors are helping neighbors and even strangers recover from devastating storms. NBC's John Yang reports.
In Salem, about 60 miles west of Chelsea, a 2-year-old girl was found alive in a field alone. The girl was in critical condition.
'I just held on to her,' dad says of daughter
In Kentucky, Stephen Burton heard a twister coming in West Liberty and pulled his 23-year-old daughter to safety, just before the tornado destroyed the second story of the family's home.
"I held onto her and made it to the center of the house, next to a closet," Burton said. "I just held onto her, and I felt like I was getting sand-blasted on my back."
At least 75 people were hurt in West Liberty, where the downtown area was "just devastated," said one official.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
I have read that last year climatic upheavals (tornadoes hurricanes volcanic eruptions storms etc) occurrences topped any individual year in over fifty years. It looks like in 2012 we are in for more of the same this year. The government should be doing more to stockpile food and other emergency supplies and people would be wise to do the same.
I give my sympathy for those affected by these weather tragedies. I hope and pray they recover soon. I thank all those people who have helped out during this trying time.
I hope that people there recover quickly and have comfort in their grief. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live through such a storm.
The government used to during the Cold War, but no longer does.
We are responsible for our own food storage. Here is a web-site for a self-reliance program that's been going on for decades.
https://www.lds.org/family/family-well-being?lang=eng It has information on food storage, financial planning, preparing for emergencies, container gardening, and other resources.
(Someone told me that food storage shows lack of faith, and quoted Matt. 6:28. Little did he know that the lilies store food in their bulbs.)
Our lives all hang by a thread; it's best to make the world a better place while we can.
Thanks for the website Elk Meadow nice to see you on this thread. Your last remark about Matt 6:28 is spot on. It is reasonable and responsible to prepare for disasters. This person quoting the Bible is taking it out of context and if we did have a major catastrophe they would be the first one demanding help from those who did prepare. They should go to the story of the famine in Egypt and how the Pharaoh was advised to store for a coming famine.
Are you willing to pay more in taxes so the government can do more. Everyone cries for government aid when a crisis strikes, but we seem to forget that this needs to be paid for!
The issue is the very same government has stated that you could be a terrorist/extremest if you store food.
Huh?
What Scott is talking about is there has been talks/rumors that the government is tracking people buying large stockpiles of food and survival items.
Last I looked, the Government was actually recommending people do this. But I guess you can't be hysterically concerned about the end of the world unless you believe crackpot conspiracy theories.
Which celebrity is going to start a fund raiser for these people. Oh thats right, too bad for them they are Americans; they have to help themselves.
ted nugent?
Lisa: Well said... I wonder how many other countries will send them help? Oh yeah, they won't because they hate us and only "like us" when we are saving their butts, or their oil fields so they can then gouge us...
This country was founded by people who believed in rugged individualism. You take care of yourself and don't stand around waiting for some government or "star" to come in and rescue you.
We have turned into a welfare state where we don't feel we have any responsibility for ourselves. Every criminal turns into a victim who: was bullied, had a bad childhood, had a mental illness, had low self-esteem, couldn't "find" himself, never got the lucky breaks, had a drug problem, had an alcohol problem, had bad parents, on and on and on.
Certainly, these people need help because of the scope of the devastation, but I doubt they are sitting around waiting to be rescued. After Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, neighbors pulled together to get food, water, and ice. We cleared the damage, put up the blue tarps on the roof, and took care of looters ourselves.
no fed help for red states!
Isn't FEMA one of the agencies the gopers want to shut down?
De2Or--I'm sure you know what an absurd comment that is and you're just a troll. Right?
My prayers goes to those effected by yesterday's and last night's tornados. Join me in donating to the Salvation Army or Red Cross with instructions that the funds are for the exclusive use of helping these folks. When will our government begin to help those in the US effected by such tragedy and stop sending those needy dollars to our enemies ( North Korea, eg.)?
What do you think FEMA does? They and the state agencies they work with are probably already there, with drinking water, ready-to-eat food, cots and blankets -- either pre-positioned, or contracted for well in advance -- and people to help residents figure out the paperwork and file insurance claims. The Red Cross provides volunteers, but a lot of the money to keep people going after this type of event comes from the federal government. And BTW "our government" does not send any money to North Korea; we don't even have an embassy there. If you're going to slam the government, at least try and base it somewhat on actual facts instead of just rants.
as long as you own your own house FEMA helps. Good luck if you are a renter as my family found out last Fall after the Hurricane/Tropical storms in the Northeast. After 4 months of paperwork and many tears, we finally gave up. We were'nt asking for a handout, just a short term loan.
It's high time that those in the mid-west start building homes like Hobbits.
Including business and schools.
If a schools is bermed with earth and and earth top it would be a safe haven for everyone else in the event of a tornado.
probably more energy efficient too
Can't imagine being a school bus driver with a hundred kids on your hands and suddenly realizing you're facing down a tornado.
and another thing to consider is that there are people who
will take advantage of the situation. I had a cousin who was offered a
reconstruction job in South Carolina after a hurricane. It paid really well,
but the work truck that he was asked to drive there had a secret bedliner with
ten pounds of pot in it.
In the aftermath of a hurricane, a little green is called for.
There are a lot of heroes who have emerged here--not only those who saved others (like the school bus driver), but also those who opened their homes and hearts afterward. Thank you to all those folks!
The picture of Greg Cook and Coco of East Limestone Ala is outstanding. It has it all : scattered debris, hands reaching out to help and, best of all, Mr. Cook embracing Coco. What relief and joy he must have been feeling to have found her alive.
I keep going back to that picture. It says so much, heartfelt and touching in the face of such tragedy.
Thanks for the quick thinking of the school bus's driver that he immediately to go the nearby house to ask for the immediate shelter to protect his students in the school bus when they were chased by a tornado. Otherwise, it was going to be very tragic and terrible.
Thanks again.
The bus driver is definitely a hero....as are the members of the family who sheltered the students.
The last big one that came through here carried a baby about a quarter of a mile and put it down with only a few scratches.
Thanks to the driver's calmness that probably came with their training. Critical times hard to deal with, will be here.
So tragic.
My heart is saddened by the deaths, injuries and misery.
A word of advice. Buy a cheap motorcycle helmet, one for each member of the household. They don't cost very much and they might save your life next time you hear that train noise.
Not a bad idea. Thanks!
Road- that's actually a real good idea- protect the noggin from flying debris..
Come on people it does`nt take a brain stergen :ha: to firgure out this amount of dope came from mexico!! dah
Condolences to the families that lost someone, and best wishes to those recovering..
That said- Mitch Daniels, Mr GOP "less Big Government", sure didn't have a problem asking for the feds to help out with cash and assistance. Talk about a hypocrite. Why can't you take care of this problem on the state level, big shot?
I have often wondered when homes are rebuilt, why not go to circular building. This would reduce the wind force on the building. Boats have a pointed bow, airplanes have cone shaped nose. This would help to reduce the wind force on the surface of the building. Who knows it might reduce the damage.
Just wondering!
When Katrina hit, Gerhard Maria Wagner (google him) blamed it on the rampant immorality of New Orleans. Pat Robertson said 9/11 was the fault of by "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians." So why Henryville? They're doing everything "right." Voted for McCain, voted Republican in 2010 for senate and house, voted for Bush the younger. Ahhh, there was that vote in 2008 for Baron Hill, an OMG!!! democrat. No wonder god wiped them off the face of the earth. What other secrets does Henryville hide from us???
Paulio, while I share your frustration with the idiots like Robertson, this should not be the time or place to make this point.
Looking at the photos of the unbelievable wreckage of so many people's lives is absolutely stunning... I can't imagine the pain of losing family members to this horror and then not having my home to go to or my bed to crawl in to cry. Those who survive this kind of nightmare and go on to rebuild are stronger people than I.
Looking at the storm pictures on TV and on the Internet is one thing, being right in the middle of it is another. I am in the area of Southern Indiana that was hit so very hard. It is horrible from every view.
To everyone who has lost anything at all, my heart goes out to you. May you find strength from all the people around you that are helping you. There are many many good people out there.
To all the people helping out, Thank you. Thank you for taking time out of your lives to help make things better. For all the men and women who have to work fixing/cleaning this mess, thank you for choosing the jobs you have chosen. We could not do this without you.
Now, to some of the people writing these posts: this situation is bad enough, people are hurt enough, lives are changed forever, not because we wanted our lives changed like this, but this is what was handed to us......you people all need to go somewhere else and argue about all the petty things you are arguing about. What is needed here is comfort and support, not the crap that some of you are posting. Please little children go outside to argue and play, let the people who actually care about other people let their kind words be heard.
How thoughtless some of you are. Would you be happy with comments like this in your time of need? I think not. Please just go away, we have enough problems right now!
Thanks to everyone else for the kind words and wishes. We will get through this!!
I am glad all the kids made it out okay.
When the people in these crazy right wing tea party states start voting for my and their self interest I'll care. Right now, sorry, but the crazy politicians you elected wreck every chance of progress for this country. It is obvious to me now that we don't belong in the same country. I view you people the same way I view people in Chile. You are foreigners. I don't share your crazy right wing philosophy and your hatred. I don't want one thin dime of my tax money helping you. You hate gays, minorities, poor people, etc, etc. I have no feeling of camraderie with you. I really wish this country would break apart so my region could go its own way and form a govt more like Canada or Europe. I have no patriotism anymore. You red state haters destroyed it.
Tom go ahead and leave this wonderful country of ours. I don't like your attitude, in times like these everyone has to pitch in together. It does not matter if you are a democrat, republican or whatever, when it comes to destruction natural or otherwise it does not matter.
Thankfully the local Wal-Marts have donated 100's of gift cards and are accepting donations of clothing and food while the communities surrounding this area are pitching in and offering their homes,barns and whatever they have to all the people who have lost their homes......we are all small close-knit communities with family ties.....thanks to all of you with positive messages of support......to the rest.....what goes around.....comes around !!
My sympathy to the people who lost loved ones and lost so much in other ways as well.