Clean-up efforts continue in several Iowa communities after an EF-2 tornado swept through a week ago. Kaye Cawthorn had a 2,300 square feet home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. After the tornado, everything that’s left of her home is in a pit.The day the tornado struck was already a mournful day for Cawthorn — her husband died exactly three years before. Despite the grief, she believes he’s the reason why she survived the disaster.”Not trying to be weird but I felt like maybe my husband was speaking through my great-grandson, who is 6,” Cawthorn said. “He said ‘Meemaw, this is scary here… there’s a monster in there telling me we gotta go, somebody’s gonna die.’ And so I got him and put him in the car and we left. Because I didn’t want him to be afraid. And 10 minutes later, the house was gone.”About six miles away in Corydon, Iowa, Aaron Cooper says he feels lucky his home didn’t see more damage. “We kinda took a peek out of our basement and we could see the tornado coming, really close, a lot bigger than what we were expecting,” Cooper said.Cooper’s bigger concern was his father’s home just two houses down. “It was a pretty scary situation. But the aftermath is, you know, we still have our homes, everybody is safe. And so we’re thankful for that,” Cooper said. While the Cooper and Cawthorn families continue to pick up the pieces and rebuild, both families agree the community’s support is what makes an unfortunate situation a little brighter.
Clean-up efforts continue in several Iowa communities after an EF-2 tornado swept through a week ago.
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Kaye Cawthorn had a 2,300 square feet home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. After the tornado, everything that’s left of her home is in a pit.
The day the tornado struck was already a mournful day for Cawthorn — her husband died exactly three years before.
Despite the grief, she believes he’s the reason why she survived the disaster.
“Not trying to be weird but I felt like maybe my husband was speaking through my great-grandson, who is 6,” Cawthorn said. “He said ‘Meemaw, this is scary here… there’s a monster in there telling me we gotta go, somebody’s gonna die.’ And so I got him and put him in the car and we left. Because I didn’t want him to be afraid. And 10 minutes later, the house was gone.”
About six miles away in Corydon, Iowa, Aaron Cooper says he feels lucky his home didn’t see more damage.
“We kinda took a peek out of our basement and we could see the tornado coming, really close, a lot bigger than what we were expecting,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s bigger concern was his father’s home just two houses down.
“It was a pretty scary situation. But the aftermath is, you know, we still have our homes, everybody is safe. And so we’re thankful for that,” Cooper said.
While the Cooper and Cawthorn families continue to pick up the pieces and rebuild, both families agree the community’s support is what makes an unfortunate situation a little brighter.
