EF-1 tornado rips roof off Osceola home while family hides in basement
A EF-1 tornado ripped the roof off an Osceola
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OSCEOLA, Iowa (KCCI) — The Lavery family lives just south of Osceola. A few minutes after midnight Monday, they grabbed their 6-year-old daughter and hid in the basement. A few minutes later, they came out and their roof was in their yard.
An EF-1 tornado had just flown through their living room. Stephanie Lavery said she remembers the sound of the roof being ripped from its nails.
“We just heard, like, I can’t even describe the noise — just the most horrible noise I ever heard. It sounds just so much worse than the movies,” Lavery said.
The tornado touched down just southwest of Osceola, leaving more than a 6-mile long path Monday night, weakening only after hitting the Lavery’s house.
The only signs left behind were the roof in the yard and insulation clings to the fence line — just as they held on for dear life.
“My daughter last night, I said, ‘I need you to stay calm, I need you to take deep breaths,’ and she said, ‘I’ve never done this for real I’ve only practiced at school!’ And I’m like, ‘Me too! Me too! I’ve never done this for real either,'” Lavery said.
She said she’s grateful for all their friends and family who have helped clean up — she thinks they’re the only ones with significant damage.
The Laverys know it could’ve ended a lot worse and just feel lucky to come out of the storm unhurt.
“I really didn’t think there would be an upstairs left. I think that we were really blessed just in the fact that our just our roof is gone. Just a lot of possessions but we’re safe and that’s really all we can ask for,” she said.
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