A pile of boards and bricks, a wrecked blue bicycle and a baby doll were sprawled upside down on a mountain of wreckage in the Kentucky street.
Behind it, all that remained was a hole in the ground where a home had once stood. The immaculate homes on this cul-de-sac were transformed to mounds of timber across the street. Clothes hung from snapped tree branches . The walls of a house collapsed and what was left in the house was a white Christmas tree.
When a tornado hit Bowling Green, Kentucky, in the middle of the night, the damage was concentrated in this neighbourhood, where everyone waved and giggling kids spent afternoons riding their bikes on the sidewalks.
Fourteen individuals were killed in just a few blocks, 11 of them on Moss Creek Avenue. Families were ripped apart, including seven children, two of whom were infants. Surviving neighbours were filled with sadness that they were unable to speak about it. Evidence of the youngsters they used to see climb off the school bus was found all around them, among the wreckage.
Melinda Allen-Ray hadn’t slept a wink since the tornado warnings went off early Saturday and she rushed her grandchildren into the bathroom as the winds ripped her house apart. There was silence for a few minutes. When she got outside, she heard screaming from her neighbours.
There were Bosnians among the families who lost a large number of members. Two brothers lived next door to each other with their families. They were merry and boisterous, throwing backyard parties in the summer. One woman, two children and two infants died from the two brothers’ families, according to authorities. Their surviving relatives claimed that it was too painful to discuss.
Three adults, a 16-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and another youngster were among the six members of another family who died here.
A 77-year-old grandma was slain just around the corner. Two more people from the area died in the hospital as a result of their injuries.
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