Wilson/Reese 3/3 Tornado Victims Fund
Donation protected
My name is "Kolayah" KeeVan Wilson. With only a few minutes warning, my family and I were in the direct pathway of a category F4 tornado on March 3, 2019. The impact of the storm shook the ground and the whole house as it ripped the roof and walls to shreds. The force of the wind felt like it took hours before it decided to move on and let us go.
With the sheer terror of what had happened, we sat up as best we could without causing any more harm to ourselves. I frantically checked everyone to make sure they were alive and had all of our limbs were intact.
I climbed out what was left of the house, called family to let them know what had happened and desperately started digging my family out of the wreckage. As I looked around, I could see that everything around me was gone. Our entire street was gone. Our community was gone. It felt like we were the only ones left alive.
Once I was able to make enough room for my son, Qumran, to climb out, I checked him over and we both started pulling the big debris that held us down off of my mother in law, Earnestine Reese, and wife, LaShawn Wilson. During this time, a second tornado warning alerted our phones. We felt so alone and helpless. We were out in the open not knowing where the next one was coming from.
We finally see some neighbors walk up the road as we screamed for help. They told us that they had called 9-1-1 and were instructed that everyone needs to go down to the end of the road for help.
After we made room for my wife to stand, we made several attempts to get my mother in law back on her rolling walker. We made several exhausting attempts. My wife told us to go to the end of the road to find someone to help us and to get my son to safety. My heart sank to the suggestion, but I knew that we had to do this.
We ran up the road crossing trees and live power lines to find help as the wind whipped above our heads. At that moment, some family members had made it to us. They put us in the car and took my son to a family members house at the end of the road that was not destroyed in the storm.
My brother in law and I quickly went back to help the rest of my injured family out of the wreckage. As far as we could see, everything was destroyed.
Our story can be heard and seen in many places. My family will hold to our faith even in this tragedy. We mourn our family and friends lives lost. We are such a close community. Continue to pray and send positive energy to all in the Lee County community. We love our Beauregard community. We appreciate the support and grateful to all that help us move forward. Below are a few links where I retell our horrific ordeal. Everyone in this community has a story. The tragedy and devastation is unreal.
Links: https://youtu.be/LWfqFgHDbew
With the sheer terror of what had happened, we sat up as best we could without causing any more harm to ourselves. I frantically checked everyone to make sure they were alive and had all of our limbs were intact.
I climbed out what was left of the house, called family to let them know what had happened and desperately started digging my family out of the wreckage. As I looked around, I could see that everything around me was gone. Our entire street was gone. Our community was gone. It felt like we were the only ones left alive.
Once I was able to make enough room for my son, Qumran, to climb out, I checked him over and we both started pulling the big debris that held us down off of my mother in law, Earnestine Reese, and wife, LaShawn Wilson. During this time, a second tornado warning alerted our phones. We felt so alone and helpless. We were out in the open not knowing where the next one was coming from.
We finally see some neighbors walk up the road as we screamed for help. They told us that they had called 9-1-1 and were instructed that everyone needs to go down to the end of the road for help.
After we made room for my wife to stand, we made several attempts to get my mother in law back on her rolling walker. We made several exhausting attempts. My wife told us to go to the end of the road to find someone to help us and to get my son to safety. My heart sank to the suggestion, but I knew that we had to do this.
We ran up the road crossing trees and live power lines to find help as the wind whipped above our heads. At that moment, some family members had made it to us. They put us in the car and took my son to a family members house at the end of the road that was not destroyed in the storm.
My brother in law and I quickly went back to help the rest of my injured family out of the wreckage. As far as we could see, everything was destroyed.
Our story can be heard and seen in many places. My family will hold to our faith even in this tragedy. We mourn our family and friends lives lost. We are such a close community. Continue to pray and send positive energy to all in the Lee County community. We love our Beauregard community. We appreciate the support and grateful to all that help us move forward. Below are a few links where I retell our horrific ordeal. Everyone in this community has a story. The tragedy and devastation is unreal.
Links: https://youtu.be/LWfqFgHDbew
Organizer
Kolayah KeeVan Wilson
Organizer
Opelika, AL