NEWS

Tupelo father thankful family survived tornado

Emily Le Coz
The Clarion-Ledger

Kevin Barnes strolled the vacant lot where his home once stood and squinted his eyes against the sun.

"This is where the kitchen was," he gestured to a spot a few feet away. "The living room was over there, and my daughter's bedroom was right there."

Barnes and his wife, Amber, had purchased their cute, three-bedroom house two years ago in Tupelo's tree-shaded Joyner neighborhood. The area, developed mostly in the 1950s, has long attracted young families seeking a safe yet affordable place to raise children.

Located in central Tupelo, the neighborhood boasts some of the best parks, schools and real estate. It also was among the hardest hit in the EF3 twister that destroyed large swathes of northeast Mississippi's largest city on the afternoon of April 28.

Barnes' house took a direct hit while his daughter napped inside.

Four-year-old Cera was spending the day at home with family friend Bryan Collins while her parents worked.

Weather reports predicted the possibility of a tornado that day, but the Barnes family took the news in stride. It probably would blow over, they thought.

But when weather reports confirmed a touchdown and sirens started blaring, Barnes said he began to worry. He and his colleagues at BancorpSouth gathered inside a vault at their West Jackson Street office building while strong winds howled outside.

He heard that the tornado had entered Tupelo from the west and was headed northeast, first toward the Joyner neighborhood where Cera was taking her afternoon nap and then toward the Mall at Barnes Crossing where his wife was working at JC Penney.

Miles away and feeling helpless, Barnes, 33, could only pray for their safety.

Meanwhile, Collins had heard hail pelt the house as the massive twister approached. He ran into Cera's bedroom and grabbed the slumbering tot, cradling her in his arms as he raced toward the basement. But they only made it to the living room before the tornado hit.

The funnel cloud smashed through the living room window and peeled the roof off the house, its high winds and debris knocking Collins and Cera to the ground. The two landed in between a couch and an ottoman, which created a pocket of protection from the large entertainment center that collapsed overhead.

Then the tornado lifted the house off its foundation and pushed it into the backyard, twisting beams and shattering pipes that had been in place since the house was built in 1954.

When the roar of destruction at last subsided and Collins and Cera looked up, they found themselves in an unrecognizable pile of rubble, exposed to open sky and pounding rain. Cera suffered numerous cuts and bruises. Collins sustained fractured bones and a concussion that left him disoriented.

He emerged from the rubble and wandered the street, still clutching Cera to his chest and trying to comprehend the transformed landscape. Houses were gone. Trees were snapped in half. Debris littered the ground.

Neighbors two doors down who had ridden out the storm in their basement spotted Collins and the girl and rushed them inside to offer medical care and dry clothes. They also helped Collins phone Amber Barnes to assure her they were safe.

Kevin Barnes had no cellphone reception and was by this time racing home to find his friend and daughter, his heart sinking as he saw the damage. When his wife finally reached him with the good news, a sense of relief washed over him.

"I could have lost everything," he said. "I could have lost my daughter. I could have lost my wife."

The possibility of complete devastation had never felt more real to Barnes, he said, and it since has changed his outlook on life.

"I'm not worried about the little things anymore," he said. "And I realize how important my family is to me."

In the three months since then, the Barnes family has moved into a small apartment while working with insurers and contractors to rebuild their home. The new house will be slightly larger and include coveted amenities like walk-in closets and bigger bathtubs.

It also will forgo the basement, which would cost too much to construct, in favor of a built-in storm shelter.

The dirt work already is finished. Construction on the roughly 1,500-square-foot home will begin later this summer. Barnes said the family should be able to move in by Christmas.

"I'm not looking forward to moving all my stuff again," he said, "but it will be a nice Christmas present to have our own house again."

Barnes has left his job at BancorpSouth to pursue other passions — a result of his newfound perspective on life. He said he's not sure where it will lead him but looks forward to the adventure.

"I feel very thankful," he said, "since the tornado."

Contact Emily Le Coz at elecoz@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7249. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.

About the series

This is the second in a series of stories that looks at how some of the April 28 tornado survivors are coping three months later.