60 years of memories gone in 60 seconds from EF-2 Tornado

A Madison County neighborhood is beginning the painful process of recovery just 24 hours after an EF-2 tornado tore through the area, leaving behind shattered homes and shattered memories.

For one family, it took only 60 seconds to lose 60 years of memories.

"It's hard to explain," said Glennis Black, the daughter of the homeowner, "I've experienced loss before but just coming back home to where we moved here when I was two years old and then just seeing the devastation."

Only the creak of broken doors and the rustle of debris remain where a lifetime of memories once stood. FOX54 is told the homeowner made it safely to another family member's house just down the road, moments before wind broke through the windows.

“They got inside his basement and she sat down and all of the windows blew out of his house,” Black said.

Throughout the day, Glennis, the homeowner’s daughter, and her family sifted through the rubble, searching for what little could be saved.

“We haven't stopped. We're just trying to dig through and find some of the sentimental things," she said, adding they found her parents wedding photos from decades before. “There's no duplicates of these and so they say bricks and mortar can be replaced, but it's things like this that we want to take care of these.”

Despite the destruction, Glennis says what matters most is that her family is safe. “Thank God for wrapping his arms around my family and keeping them safe,” she said.

The tornado, which touched down Monday night, left a path of destruction across Killingsworth Cove. Since 4 a.m. Tuesday, residents and volunteers have been working tirelessly to clean up, with no end in sight.

Several people stopped by throughout the day to lend a hand, as the community begins to rebuild.