'A normal day to chaos': 1 year later tornado survivors focusing on good that came from storm

Don Wilkins, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·5 min read

Dec. 10—Since February, Justin Miller, his wife and three children have been living in a camper just feet from his Ohio County home they had lived in since 2012.

Miller has been working to rebuild his house on Cedar Grove Road that was destroyed by the deadly tornado that struck western Kentucky one year ago today — Dec. 10, 2021.

Twisted and broken trees are still very much visible in the woods a short distance away from their backyard — a constant reminder of that day.

Leading up to the storm, Miller said he had been checking on friends and family as he watched the weather reports that were calling for the potential tornadic activity.

"It was a typical Friday afternoon — no big deal; it was getting close to Christmas and it was warmer than normal," Miller said.

But as the evening went on, he started to realize that his home was in the storm's path.

Shortly after 11 p.m., Miller said he began gathering his wife and children into the hallway of their house.

"I walked out into the yard about 30 or 40 feet and looked back," he said. "You couldn't definitely see it but you knew what it was — you could hear it; you could see the lightening."

Pillows were already in Miller's hallway from a storm that came through earlier in the night.

But Miller said he added couch cushions on top of his wife and children just in time.

"It had to have been right at 11:30 (p.m.) when it hit," Miller said. "At first, it was just rattling, beating and banging. You could hear the glass breaking and you could feel the pressure in the house — and then it got deadly calm."

And then chaos.

"It had torn our bedroom door off the hinges ... sent it up the hallway and hit me," he said. "I was laying on top of my wife and kids and the door on top of me ... like a shield. I remember grabbing a hold of the door and it was trying to pull up. At one time, I thought I was getting sucked up and my wife did, too, because she grabbed a hold of me."

When he realized the tornado had finally gone over them, Miller said he stood up with only the door knob in his hand and his home torn apart.

He and his family had survived a direct hit, which he attributed to "God's hand" protecting them.

"I took all the cushions off my wife and kids and I was checking them to make sure everybody was alright — not a scratch one and nobody was hurt," said Miller, who became emotional recalling that moment.

Not far from the Millers, Joel Sumner and 11 members of his family were hunkered down inside two bathrooms of his Ohio County home on Utley Drive.

Outside the tornado wiped out his brother's and his parents' homes that were nearby on the same hill. They were all together in Sumner's home.

"We had not much more got the (bathroom) door shut when it hit," Sumner said. "... It took this roof and part of one side but it left enough to spare all 12 of us."

A year later Sumner's home is almost rebuilt.

On Tuesday, Sumner was still busy bricking his house that he and his wife were able to move into four weeks ago.

"We've just had our heads down working and we haven't stopped since; I don't know how much (the tornado's anniversary) is going to mean; I haven't let myself settle in too much — I haven't had the opportunity," Sumner said. "... I'm sure it will be emotional because we were all spared here and not everywhere can say that."

For Sumner, the good came from seeing his neighbors and people from around Ohio County coming not only to his aid, but also helping others impacted as well in the tornado's aftermath.

"In the beginning, it was all community," Sumner said. "Everybody keeps saying, 'surely you got help from FEMA.' No, I did not. (FEMA) has its place but it was the community that helped. ... I don't look at it negatively; I can't really because too many good things came out of it."

The EF4 tornado that struck western Kentucky 12 months ago is considered the deadliest on record in December, with 57 fatalities confirmed and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Although Miller's home was no longer livable, he said what mattered was that his family was safe and the tornado missed the city of Hartford.

"I honestly believe we gained more than we ever lost," Miller said. "Had that tornado gone 2 miles south from where it was, it probably wouldn't have hit my house but there's no telling what it would've done in Hartford; it's unfortunate that it got my house but I'm willing to give mine up any day knowing that nobody got hurt and nobody got killed — and I mean that wholeheartedly."

Miller, who didn't have home insurance, said his goal is to have his family back into their house before Christmas.

To rebuild, Miller received help from churches and organizations such as Samaritan's Purse and Habitat for Humanity.

Despite the hardships caused by the tornado, Miller said he has focused on the good that came from it.

"To sit back now and have a year of reflection, realizing to go from a normal day to chaos, to not having a place to stay, to not having very many clothes — didn't know what we had at the time, to know that there are still a lot of good people," Miller said. "People who I hadn't seen or talked to in years came out of the woodwork to help."