Video: Chickasaw County Tornado Survivors

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CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)–Many people in North Mississippi remember how damaging the April storms were in cities in our viewing area four years ago.

But there are stories you may not know. There is one memorable survivor story from that day.

All that’s left of the home tornado survivor Nadean Cunningham had is a slab. Cunningham has since rebuilt, but still fresh on her mind is the day 14 homes were destroyed in her neighborhood.

“Got up I washed clothes, a general day. But we also had the TV on. So I guess about a quarter to three I started hearing these like train sounds. And there is not any trains out here,” said Cunningham.

Not wanting to alarm her two sons Taurean and Jabaree, the brave mom quickly took her boys to their safe place within the house and waited to be rescued.

“And so finally someone said where are you. I said I’m here in the closet, we are in the closet. They are like, what closet? I’m like the closet. And he said just keep talking,” recalled Cunningham.

The mother of two had thought she only lost a roof, not knowing that her house had crumbled all around her.

“I had two full bathrooms and I went to go to the other bathroom, walked by it and went to the walk-in closet. Those bathrooms were no longer there. We probably would not be here today,” said Cunningham.

Then there was trouble on top of trouble. Having escape the deadly tornado, she was not ready for what happened months later.

“Besides the tornado you know you are going through where you’ve lost everything. And then someone comes along and steals your identity. While you are in the prospect of trying to rebuild, that’s a struggle,” said Cunningham.

Cunningham now has a storm shelter out back, but Taurean and Jabaree who are still receiving counseling for what they went through won’t go near it. The family is wanting everyone to know what happened in her tiny community that day, when they remained strong until the storm passed.

Debris from the tornado had covered the family’s automobile parked in the driveway, initially neighbors and rescuers thought they had been blown away or were not at home.