‘Miracle’ toddler who survived being swept up in tornado loses battle for life

The body of her mother, Moriah Brough, 20, was under a tree nearby along with
those of her brother Jayden, two, and baby sister, Kendall, two months, who
was still strapped into her baby seat.

Her 21-year-old father Joseph was discovered dead across the road from their
home.

The little girl’s grandparents told NBC News they took the decision to remove
her from a life support machine due to the severity of her injuries, which
included catastrophic brain damage.

They had spent the preceding two days at her bedside in Kosair Children’s
Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.

Earlier, her grandfather Jack Brough said: “She is in extremely critical
condition.

She’s had a lot of injuries to her head.

“The doctors told us that the next 24-48 hours are very critical. I’m just asking
everyone to pray for my granddaughter and for my family.”

The family was last seen lying face down in the hallway of their mobile home
holding hands and praying as the tornado approached.

A neighbour, Jason Miller, ran over to offer them shelter in his larger mobile
home, but was picked up by the twister and hurled across the road.

He survived with several broken bones and is in a stable condition in
hospital.

Marcia Lanham, whose daughter Beverley is Mr Miller’s girlfriend, said: “He’s
a hero. He went next door to bring them over, and they all got killed.”

Mr Brough told how he had been on his way to meet his daughter, Angel’s
mother, when the tornado siren went off.

He said: “We got in the car and started driving and as we got closer and
closer, the whole area was flattened.

“I kept saying, ’Oh my God! Oh my God!’ I was breathing so hard. I couldn’t
see my daughter’s trailer for nothing. It was gone.

“She was always happy and loved life,” he added. “She went to church every
week.

“But her entire life was about Joe and her children. She loved her kids; she
was always with them.”

Sherry Young, a friend of the family, said: “Kendall was found in her car seat
upside down. Jayden was found under the rubble.

“Joseph was found on the opposite side of the road from his house.

“Moriah was found underneath a tree. Angel was found out in the middle of
the field all alone.”

At least 39 people are known to have died in the storms which tore through 17
states, an area stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes.

At one point, around a third of the United States in the south and Midwest of
the country, was under a tornado warning.

Worst hit were the towns of Marysville and Henryville in Indiana, and New
Liberty, Kentucky, which are said to have been virtually wiped out.

Officials said that at least 20 people had lost their lives in Kentucky, 14 in
Indiana, three in Ohio and one each in Alabama and Georgia.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers check on shattered homes
and other buildings. Hundreds of people were injured in the storms, many
seriously.

Gilber Acciardo, of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department in Kentucky, said:
“Lost legs, amputations for sure, a lot of serious broken bones, a lot of
severe injuries, head injuries.”

A four-year-old boy who was ripped from his mother’s arms by a tornado as they
took shelter from the storm in the cellar of their farmhouse was found dead
along with his great grandparents.

The bodies of Davlin, Terry and Carol Jackson were discovered in a field
behind their home in West Liberty, Kentucky.

At least 12 states suffered more than 100 tornadoes each in a storm system
which came at the start of the bad weather season, leading experts to
predict more devastation and deaths over the coming months.

They followed a severe storm two days earlier that killed 13 people in the
Midwest and south.

The National Weather Service reported that four of the twisters which hit
Kentucky were the worst for 24 years.

Indiana suffered an EF-4, the second highest possible, with tornadoes reaching
175 mph hitting Henryville, birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder
“Colonel” Harland Sanders, and cutting a swathe of devastation 50 miles
wide.

Three of the Kentucky tornadoes had wind speeds reaching 160 mph.

Television news showed extraordinary scenes of damage, including homes,
schools and businesses town apart, trees uprooted and cars and buses tossed
into buildings.

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