Kentucky tornadoes: Family saved as refrigerator serves as shield
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. — A Kentucky family may have lost their home when tornadoes ripped through their town on Dec. 10, but their lives were spared when they used a basement refrigerator as a shield.
“The storm blew this way, and we were pinned under this refrigerator,” Will Latham told WFIE-TV.
Latham, his wife and daughter were alerted to the storm by his mother, the television station reported.
“We had kinda gone to bed. At that time, my mother actually called and actually forced us to move to the basement,” Latham told WFIE. “No sooner had we got backed into a corner, the tornado hit, and blew us into the back of the basement.”
The Lathams are standing on what was once the entrance to their Dawson Springs home. They were in the basement when the tornado hit..and say a refrigerator saved their lives.
The Lathams’ home was destroyed in a matter of seconds. But they were protected, thanks to the refrigerator.
“One of our refrigerators that we had for extra storage blew over with us and covered myself and my daughter,” Latham told WFIE. “Luckily, if it hadn’t been for that fridge, we wouldn’t have made it.”
Shannon Latham said she was slammed into the back wall of the basement, but said she was able to free herself enough to get help.
“So I just kept holding my flashlight in the air,” Shannon Latham told WFIE. “So someone could see my light, and I kept screaming for help. And finally, I could hear someone off in the distance, ‘We’re coming. We’re coming.’”
Help did indeed arrive. The couple is thankful they are alive, and now are grappling with how to recover from the storms.
“We’ll be fine,” Will Latham told WFIE. “I’m not sure we’ll build back here yet, but we’ll be fine.”
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Kentucky tornadoes A resident surveys the damage from a tornado that hit downtown Mayfield, Kentucky, on Friday night. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes Emergency response workers dig through the rubble of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes A woman walks away from a row of ambulances on the property of Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado. (John Amis/AFP via Getty Images)
Kentucky tornadoes A feed store in Mayfield, Kentucky was severely damaged by a tornado Friday night. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press)
Kentucky tornadoes: artin Bolton, left, and shop owner Danny Wagner try to shut off a leaking gas meter after his automobile repair shop was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky. (John Amis/Agence France Presse/AFP via Getty Images)
Kentucky tornadoes (Dylan T. Lovan/Associated Press)
Kentucky tornadoes: Debris is scattered near a damaged feed store in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press)
Kentucky tornadoes A car sits under a house destroyed by a tornado in Campbellsville, Kentucky. (Michael Clubb/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes Workers survey damage done by a tornado that traveled through Campbellsville, Kentucky. (Michael Clubb/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes Several homes were reduced to rubble after a tornado hit Mayfield, Kentucky. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes Workers survey the rubble at a Family Dollar store in Mayfield, Kentucky, after Friday night's tornado. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes A resident surveys the damages after a tornado struck Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Friday. (Gunnar Word/AFP via Getty Images)
Kentucky tornadoes Rescue workers dig through the rubble at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes A woman in Bowling Green, Kentucky, looks at the damage in the aftermath of a tornado that roared through the western part of the state Friday night. (Gunnar Word/AFP via Getty Images)
Kentucky tornadoes Residents in Bowling Green, Kentucky, assess the damage after Friday night's tornado. (Gunnar Word/AFP via Getty Images)
Kentucky tornadoes Cars and homes were damaged in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Friday night. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes: People walk past the debris of a home flattened by Friday's tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
Kentucky tornadoes: People carry out boxes from a destroyed building after Friday's tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )
