Storm chaser vows to rebuild family’s tornado-ravaged home after pulling them from wreckage
The storm chaser tracked the EF-4 tornado through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, which destroyed whole neighborhoods, including the one of a family who he pulled from the debris. He vowed to rebuild their home.
'It's an absolute miracle that they're alive': Storm chaser helps save family following MS tornado
Storm Chaser Jonny Gabel was storm chasing on the west side of the confirmed tornado in Rolling Fork. He arrived in Rolling Fork late at night to help residents get out of their crumbled homes, the dollar store and more when he came across a family he helped.
On Friday, storm chaser Jonny Gabel went to Rolling Fork, Mississippi, to chase tornadoes. But after rescuing a family whose house had just collapsed due to a monstrous tornado, he's now working to rebuild their destroyed home.
Gabel drove from his home in Illinois with his storm-chasing partner and headed to Mississippi. FOX Weather and the NWS had forecasted dangerous storms for the area for days.
He tracked a massive EF-4 tornado through the town of Rolling Fork. Gabel said he had chased an EF-4 before, but this wasn’t the same.
OVER 20 DEAD AFTER MISSISSIPPI TORNADOES LEVEL TOWNS WHILE CARVING 100-MILE PATH OF DESTRUCTION
Rolling Fork, MS completely devastated by deadly tornado
Rolling Fork, MS has been completely devastated by a deadly tornado. Drone video shows the extent of the damage.
"There was just a different feeling. It was eerie. It's really just almost impossible to put into words," Gabel told FOX Weather. "Just the magnitude of that storm, just how violent it was. Is it nothing I've ever seen before."
Stop chasing and help
He said he was on the west side of Rolling Fork, about a half mile away, when the tornado touched down. Soon after, he got a call from another storm chaser who told him to "stop chasing and help." A lot of lives were at risk, and they "need all hands on deck to help," she told him.
ROLLING FORK TORNADO SURVIVOR DESCRIBES ‘APOCALYPSE’ AFTER SAVAGE STORM DECIMATES MISSISSIPPI TOWN
Gable took a photo of the devastation that was a neighborhood just 30 minutes before.
(Jonny Gabel / FOX Weather)
"We were digging through rubble in different areas," Gabel said. "And we heard a woman screaming from that house, and she was just saying, ‘Help, help, please come help.’"
He went to the wreckage of a home where he heard the pleas. He said the center of the house caved in. The area where the family was sheltering was a pocket of only a couple of feet. The chasers helped the family, including a young girl, who crawled out. Gabel then went in search of the girl’s grandmother.
ROLLING FORK BUSINESS OWNER SAVES LIVE BY SHELTERING EMPLOYEES IN COOLER DURING MISSISSIPPI
The grandmother could not walk out of the house on her own.
(Jonny Gabel / FOX Weather)
"But the grandmother was just sitting in her bed as if nothing happened," Gabel said. "And when we got up to her, she said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn't really have any warning. And all of a sudden, my roof ripped off, and the wall ripped off right, right in front of me. And I just I didn't have any time to react.’"
He wrote on Facebook that the entire family made it out safely without injury. The grandmother had a small scratch on her thumb.
Gable and the girl who was in shock, he said.
(Jonny Gabel / FOX Weather)
"It's an absolute miracle that they're alive, that they were unscathed," Gabel said.
The miracles don’t stop there
The uncle of the little girl who lived in California was frantically trying to get in touch with the family. He turned to TikTok and entered #runningfork. The first video that came up was Gabel carrying his niece out of the ruined home. He knew she was ok.
FATHER SHIELDS 1-WEEK-OLD BABY AS MISSISSIPPI TORNADO DESTROYS HOME
The uncle put Gabel in touch with the family that lost their home, and Gabel vowed to rebuild it. He established a GoFundMe Page asking for just $50,000 for materials because he said he would do the labor himself.
He told FOX Weather that he was a carpenter, in addition to a storm chaser, and that he had been building homes for years, which is the one thing he could offer people in need.
He and the girl’s father, also named Johnny, talked to a banker and are looking for an accountant or financial advisor to manage the fund.
"There’s really bad news, but this all sounds like it truly is a godsend that I ended up there that night," he wrote on Facebook. "Johnny said his family owns the home, but they don’t have insurance on it. Good news is we don’t have to purchase land; I’m just rebuilding and that makes it so much easier."
MISSISSIPPI TORNADO SURVIVOR SAYS IT FELT LIKE STORM WAS ‘TRYING TO SUCK US UP’
FOX Weather reporters have been taking photos of the destruction in Rolling Fork.
(Robert Ray / FOX Weather)
Just 50 yards away from the home was a Dollar General that Gable said was just rubble. He said it was a miracle that the family’s house didn’t completely collapse on them.
"This family was a beacon of hope. They all survived. Their house was right next to the Dollar General where we discovered people who didn’t make it," wrote Gabel on Facebook.
He said any leftover funds would go to establishing the Dream Foundation, a non-profit he and other storm chaser friends have been trying to start for the past two years. They hope to buy chainsaws and trailers and have a team ready to deploy and help in emergencies.