Fifteen people died when a tornado ripped through a neighborhood in Bowling Green, Kentucky Saturday.
Of those fifteen people, seven were children who lived on the same street.
“Our community took a hard hit,” Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said.
As the tornado sirens wailed, residents ran for cover.
The winds whipped, ripped apart homes and tossed cars as if they were toys. There was only so much the people could do to take shelter against mother nature.
One street in particular was hit extremely hard, Moss Creek Avenue. Eleven people who lived on the street died, and of those 11, seven were children.
Melinda Allen-Ray, a neighbor, emerged from her wrecked home and heard her neighbors’ terrified screams.
“I heard them — it traumatized me. I think about that each night when I go to sleep, when I do sleep,” she said.
“I just think about all those babies.”
One family suffered a massive loss. They were two brothers who lived next door, and each lost members of their own families.
Another family on the street lost six members of their family.
“That’s hard to think about — you go to bed, and your entire family is gone the next day,” Ronnie Ward, with the Bowling Green Police Department, said.
On Monday officials continued to comb through debris as they looked for more victims. By Monday evening, the number of unaccounted dropped from 136 to 13.
“We want to make sure everybody gets their loved ones back and are reunified if they’ve been displaced,” Bowling Green police Chief Michael Delaney said.
As residents continue to survey the damage and begin the cleanup, we are beginning to hear the stories of victims of the deadly tornadoes.
Please send your thoughts and prayers to all of the victims of the deadly tornadoes.
