It's been 2 years

April 27th, 2011, do you remember that day? To some it was just another day, to many it was a day that will never be forgotten. Lives were lost and homes were destroyed. I was impacted twice by the outcome of that storm and here is my story.


In March of 2011, I moved back to Mississippi, to stay with my family (that's personal we won't go there).

The week before April 27th, my parents were at church, I was at home, storms were coming tornadoes apparently. I was pregnant, scared, and didn't know what to do.

The week leading up to April 27th, weathermen were talking about how bad it was going to be. That Monday, I was in the hospital going into early labor. I spent the next day just relaxing. I remember April 26th, about 10:00 my parents and I going to bed that night. My dad looked outside and said I think it's going to be okay, go ahead and go to bed.

I was extremely scared, I went to bed anyhow. That morning around 2:30 I guess, I heard my daddy screaming get in the hall now! See we always road the storm out, we didn't go anywhere. For a split second, that seemed like an hour, I got out of the bed, looking at the window and seeing trees just blowing. I ran to the hall, pregnant and all, I slid. I remember my mom and dad praying. We were in the hall and all I could think about was my baby in my belly praying for her to be okay. We heard noises, something like a train coming over, we heard metal hitting things, trees snapping. Soon it went over.  My aunt, uncle, and cousin lived not even a mile up the road. We got a phone call, service was horrible but we understand "She is stuck". Thankfully, even though their trailer was gone completely, they were alive although my aunt was stuck. My aunt made it out with bruises and a very bad eye and my cousin made it out with a knot of her head. But God was there protecting over them. My older cousin made it there to help out, that morning at 5am, my heart truly was heavy. He was nearly married, expecting a baby, just brought a home, and the tornado took it. I heard him crying and asking why. I couldn't believe what all was going on around me. Trees were down, homes were destroyed, the high school was GONE everything was pretty much a mess.

Cumberland, MS April 27th, 2011

My husband came to help clean up. (we won't go there either)

Since tv was gone (no power) we didn't know what was going on around us. We were busy cleaning up, making sure lives were accounted for, and trying to cope what with had just happened.

My husband got a phone call that afternoon, saying Phil Campbell is gone. At the time, we were told our house in PC was gone. Thankfully, it wasn't. But Phil Campbell had been hit with an F5 tornado. I told my husband to go, to go back to his family, his hometown, they needed him.

He got there and I heard from him the next morning and all he could say was "its really bad'.

Homes were destroyed, pretty much the whole town. The highschool was gone, lives were taken (many lives) and Phil Campbell wasn't Phil Campbell.

About a week later, I made it to PC and I was in shock. The town I'd grown to love, was no longer a town, it was a ghost town. People picking up the pieces, trying to find any belongings they had.

I had a home and felt pretty guilty for it. How our house wasn't messed up no more than it was I'll never know.

Phil Campbell, AL April 27th, 2011

Point of this story is, that day, there was a reason I was in Mississippi other than why I choose to be there. God knew that if I was in Phil Campbell that day, I would have either road the storm out in my house, or I would have been at work, or I would have been trying to get to the shelter too late. I am truly blessed to have all of my family still alive. My home was still in tack, my parents home were still in tack and the family that did loose their homes, at least they are still alive.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was affected by the April 27th, 2011 storms. Not just in Cumberland MS and Phil Campbell AL but everywhere. I know many people have issues now dealing with the storms, I for one am one of them, I know many people that lost their families and they struggle everyday with it to this day. May God comfort you in this day and each day!