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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

As the damage and rumble was being sorted through on March 16, many harrowing stories of survival were revealed throughout Chilton County. Many people adhered to the early warnings of severe weather and left their homes for a safer space, and some people rode the EF-3 tornado out in their safe space and protected their loved ones. With no deaths or major injuries reported within the Chilton County limits, only stories of survival, good fortune and great instincts were shared during the aftermath. This is only a handful of the astounding stories that were told.

Leticia and Lucas Lopez live on County Road 341 with their two daughters and family dogs. The family has lived on the property for over four years and have had their fair share of tornado watches and warnings. However, this time for Leticia felt different.

“You know, there have been warnings and watches before and I have never left and went to a shelter,” Leticia Lopez said. “Last night I did. Something … For some reason I did.”

Lopez and her two daughters went over to the tornado shelter by Isabella High School, but her husband Lucas stayed in the home with the family dogs. As the night rolled into the 9 p.m. hour, conditions deteriorated quickly.

“He said it started to get really, really bad, and the next thing you know it was so loud,” Leticia Lopez said. “He ran out of the trailer and got into his truck, and it busted some of the windows out and it lifted up the truck some rocking it around.”

Lucas’ truck was peppered with debris leaving it littered with dents and all of the windows busted out. After the tornado passed, Lucas got his bearings and called Leticia.

“He said ‘Some of the windows are busted out of my truck, and the trailer is gone. It’s gone.’” Leticia Lopez said.

The next day, sunlight revealed the true extent of the damage. Metal and debris from the Lopez’s trailer was scattered throughout the field behind the property, and family belongings were being pulled from the rubble to save as much as possible. The only thing left standing on the property was the wooden front porch. As Leticia described the ordeal, a family member helping with the cleanup brought over a crunched-up photo of one of her daughters that was sitting in the truck with her that they found in the rumble. Leticia gazed at the photo, sat it on her dash and turned to look at her daughters for a second.

“There is some much devastation, and I am just thankful to be alive,” Leticia Lopez said. “I am thankful our dogs are okay, my husband is okay being in a vehicle, I was just thankful to God he is okay.”

Just a few miles away on County Road 15, Justin Wilson’s family home was one of the most mind-blowing scenes from the tornado damage in Chilton County. Wilson and his family were in Birmingham for his daughter’s volleyball tournament on March 15 when the storm came through. The family was watching online and saw the storm pass really close to their house. They gave it a few minutes before calling Wilson’s in-laws who lived nearby.

“They said ‘Yeah it is not good, but I do not really know yet. But your house is not where it should be,’” Wilson said. “We immediately left and came down (Interstate) 65 … We got here and the house was upside down on top of the barn. No injuries, our in-laws live close and they are okay and that is the main thing. We made preparations before we left and grabbed extra clothes, insurance, birth certificates and family heirlooms.”

In the barn behind the Wilson home was Wilson’s brother-in-law’s dirt late model race car. It was inside a two-sided barn and one half operated as a race shop.

“So, now my house is sitting on top of my brother-in-law’s race car,” Wilson said.

Wilson said there were 25-30 people at their home the night of the tornado ready to help, and even more the following day looking to assist in any way they could. Wilson and his family are well known in the Isabella community and have felt the outpouring of support for them, and others in the Mustangs family, that were impacted greatly by the tornado.

What sticks out in the Wilson’s preparations is the lengths they went to document things a full day before the storm came through, and it was great instincts to do so.

“I do not know why we did this before we left, but we did. We took pictures and videos of every room, had all of that information with us and lo and behold it hit the house,” Wilson said. “We were able to get in the house, and it was strange walking on your ceiling. As bad as it is, we are lucky too.”

On County Road 16, Becky Roper’s home was one of the homes that was completely destroyed, but it was the incredible story inside her basement that made waves. The Wilkins family came to their grandmother’s home to ride out the storm, and her grandson stepped up in a dire time of need.

Levi Wilkins, who many recognize as Isabella High School’s sophomore quarterback, needs a few extra helmet stickers next season for leadership after taking charge during the tornado to protect his loved ones.

“We were watching it on the news and saw the first one touch down and we thought it missed us, so we were getting ready to leave,” Wilkins said. “About that time my mom got a text from a friend that we should stay and head back to the basement. We headed down, and about a minute later we could feel the house start to fall. The basement door started pulling open so I started holding onto it.”

The deck of the home fell onto the basement door and helped keep it closed. The family hurried to the corner of the basement and Wilkins laid on top of them to ensure nothing fell on top of anyone.

“I know everybody says this, but it really sounded like a train coming through,” Wilkins said. “You could feel the shake of the house, feel stuff falling and pictures falling and breaking.”

While the home was a loss, Wilkins jump to action likely saved lives.

Lastly, on County Road 17, Patty Smitherman made a life-changing decision when she took her daughter’s advice and did not stay in her home through the tornado.

“She has never, ever left. She has always stayed right here,” Patty’s son James Smitherman said. “For some reason we were able to talk her into going over (to the shelter).”

Patty and her family went to her daughter’s home in Lawley to take shelter, as well as Randolph Baptist Church and their safe room during the storms. No one was inside Patty’s home the night of March 15, except for her cat, Gracie.

“My daughter made me go, and that was the only reason (I left),” Patty Smitherman said. “She kept on saying ‘Momma, now you need to come up here.’”

The tornado caused the front wall of the home to fall in, and James and the family went over to Patty’s home right after the tornado to assess the damage and find Gracie. Patty’s two granddaughters heard Gracie calling through the rumble, and James climbed through the front window with the wall laying at a 45-degree angle. He shined a flashlight under the wall, and there was Gracie looking back at him shaking and scared to death.

“She left the cat because the cat does not travel, and that was the first thing she was worried about when she knew the house was this damaged,” Renee Smitherman, one of Patty’s granddaughters, said. “We pulled (Gracie) out, put her in the cat carrier, took her to our house and she is fine. A little dirty, really shook up but she is fine. God has been good.”

Renee said that when the National Weather Service upped the risk to a five out of five for severe weather on March 14 is when Patty really made the decision to leave her home where she has lived for 56 years.

“It was not expected, and we really thought ‘Oh, it’ll be over and she may come back and stay at home the same night,’” Renee said.

In Patty’s home, the only room that did not sustain significant damage was the back room, which is where Patty’s safe space is inside the room’s closet. Every other part of the home suffered devastating damage, but not there.

“God saved her, and he had a reason for her leaving this house yesterday because normally she wouldn’t,” Renee said.

Whether it was persistent pressure from loved ones to leave their homes, great weather instincts or a true calling from higher up, these residents were able to live through the life-changing event to tell their tales. While homes and belongings can be replaced, precious life cannot be. It may take years for these families, and others in Chilton County, to recover. But they will all be doing it with every single one of their loved ones they had before it.