Published 17:17 IST, December 16th 2023
Miracle baby: Tennessee tornado survivor found in downed Tree
A 4-month-old boy has managed to survive despite being swept up from his family's mobile home, which was demolished in the storm.
- World News
- 2 min read
In the aftermath of a tornado in Tennessee, a 4-month-old boy has managed to survive despite being swept up from his family's mobile home, which was demolished in the storm. The baby's mother initially believed her son had died after the violent storm carried him away. Speaking to WSMV-TV, Sydney Moore recounted how the tornado, which hit their Clarksville home on Saturday, tore off the roof and lifted the bassinet with her son inside. The child's father, attempting to secure the bassinet, was also caught up in the twister and spun around. Moore shared, “He was just holding on to the bassinet the whole time, and they went into circles, he said, and then they got thrown.”
4-month-old boy survives through tornado
At about the same time, in another room, as the wind howled, the decision was made by Moore to jump on top of their other son, who is 1. The child was grabbed as the walls collapsed, she said. Moore and the 1-year-old were crushed under the trailer, but she mentioned that she managed to push them out.
The search for the younger son lasted for 10 minutes, and he was ultimately found lying in a fallen tree in the pouring rain. Moore expressed, "I was pretty sure he was dead and we weren't going to find him. But he's here, and that's by the grace of God." All the family members survived with cuts and bruises, but their homes and belongings were a total loss. A GoFundMe page has been started by Moore's sister to help them recover, and by Friday morning, the page had raised more than $34,000.
Six people were killed by the string of powerful tornado-producing storms on Saturday, including 10-year-old Arlan Garrick Coty. Arlan, a fourth grader, didn't make it out of his house, which was in the direct path of the storm, his mother, Katherine Burnham, wrote in a Facebook post. The Clarksville Police Department identified the other victims as 59-year-old Donna Allen, of Florida, and 34-year-old Stephen Kwaah Hayes, of Clarksville, reported CBS News. The three other victims were killed as the storm hit a mobile home community in Madison, Nashville Police said. They were identified as 37-year-old Joseph Dalton, 31-year-old Florida Gabriel Perez and her son, 2-year-old Anthony Elmer Mendez.
Updated 17:19 IST, December 16th 2023