A Story of Hope: Rebuilding After the Storm

For most in our community, May 16th began like any other. Many went to work or school, making plans for the weekend ahead, not knowing the events that were about to unfold right in our backyard.

Just like many others throughout our town, Tonya Mullins, who lived in Sunshine Hills, was aware that there were storms headed towards London that Friday night, but was unfazed by the tornado watch that was issued. It wasn’t until the alert came through on her phone urging everyone to seek shelter immediately that Tonya began to worry.

“I prepared for the worst: shoes by the bed, couch cushions near the bathtub, my cycling helmet within reach,” Tonya said, remembering those few moments before tragedy struck. “My usual safe spot, the primary bathroom with no exterior walls or windows, was ready.”

Though she, of course, feared for herself, Tonya said it was in that moment that she began to worry for her elderly, hearing-impaired father who lived just a street over and was home alone, as her mother was out of town.

“I didn’t want this to be the end,” Tonya said. “I didn’t want my mom to come home to find no husband, no daughter, and no home.”

Tonya began frantically calling her father with no answer.

“Then, the power cut out. The air was sucked down the bathtub drain. The house trembled, glass shattered, and debris battered the walls like fists. Huddled in the dark, I prayed—for my dad, my friends, my neighbors, myself. I’ve faced cancer and divorce, but nothing rivaled this fear, the helplessness of not knowing if my father was safe.”

Just another street over were Sarah and Robert Collier and their three children, Skyler, Aliyah and Jordan. The family was enjoying a movie night together in their living room when the alert came across their phones. In an instant, Sarah grabbed their daughter who was asleep on the couch, while Robert grabbed Skyler and sent Jordan down the hall with their three dogs.

“We were there 10 seconds, and the tornado came through the kitchen,” Sarah said. “It wrapped around us in a spinning what felt like hours. I started screaming and praying saying, ‘God stop this storm, just save us.’ My daughter, who is nine, started praying. My husband, who wasn't a believer, started praying.”

As the tornado moved away from their home, Sarah said they could hear their elderly neighbors screaming for help and Robert sprung into action, knocking out an outer wall of their linen closet to pull them to safety.

The nearly mile-wide tornado continued to sweep across our community towards Levi Jackson Wildnerness Road Park where Josh Smith had been asleep on the couch while his wife, Cheyla, was keeping an eye on the storm headed towards London by watching a storm chaser on YouTube.

When Josh’s wife woke him up to say it looked as if the weather may turn bad, he was quick to brush it off.

“I looked outside and there was no wind, no rain—I thought she was being crazy and took a step to head to bed and the phone alert went off and it said to seek shelter immediately,” Josh said. “I looked back outside, and it was just dead quiet, not even a dog barking.”

Suddenly, Josh and Cheyla began to hear a faint rumbling sound that reminded them of a train, which is not uncommon for them to hear, as they lived near train tracks, but the couple soon realized the sound they were hearing was not a train passing by. In a split second, the two were crouched together saying what they thought were their final goodbyes as their second story of their home was swept away into a pile of rubble. Only a few moments later, Josh said the force of the tornado hit their home again from the other side, shattering windows and snapping planks off the wall.

As Josh and Cheyla emerged from their home, barefoot and shaken up, they were shocked to see the destruction of the homes around them, but relieved to see their neighbors climbing out of the rubble.

With the threat of a second tornado, Josh and Cheyla, along with several of their neighbors, were rushed to safety, while back in Sunshine Hills, Tonya was desperate to get to her father. And as soon as the threat diminished, Tonya was rushing to him.

“Stepping onto my street, I was stopped in my tracks by a child’s stuffed animal in the road,” she said. “Tears welled as I looked up to find the house four doors down from my home erased, leaving only a concrete slab. The woman who lived there, a friend from church, was nowhere to be seen.

“The devastation stretched on. House after house was gone, reduced to rubble. Turning onto my parents’ street, I saw the home behind theirs obliterated and my dad’s detached garage vanished. I ran into his house, tears streaming, and wrapped my arms around him, overwhelmed with gratitude that he was safe.”

For Sarah and her family, her first thoughts were how thankful she was that her entire family, including their three dogs, had somehow survived the unimaginable; how devastated she felt seeing what remained of her family’s home; and how heartbroken she was for her community.

While many were able to get by without so much as a scratch, others weren’t so lucky, as the tornado struck with little warning, ravaging our town and claiming the lives of 17 of our own community members, as well as injuring several others and destroying over 1,500 homes throughout London.

“Survivor’s guilt creeps in—I still have my dad, my battered but standing home,” said Tonya. “Others lost parents, houses, everything. Yet our small community echoes a shared truth: we survived. Physical things can be rebuilt. What matters is that we’re still here, holding on to each other.”

As daylight broke, those who weren’t in the tornado’s path began to learn of the devastation left behind, hearing through news reports and social media posts of the tragedies endured overnight, while neighbors were rushing to the aid of other neighbors and first responders had already put in hours and hours of relentless work to help care for those who have just been through the unimaginable.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, like several others near the impacted areas, 18-year-old Caleb Bryant and 16-year-old Ethan Bowling were out helping look for victims in the rubble within an hour after the tornado had passed, risking their own lives to save others.

In the days following the disaster, the true strength of the community began to shine through. In the Levi Jackson area, players and coaches with the South Laurel High School boys’ basketball team, as well as other staff with South Laurel, were out helping their assistant coach, Josh, and his neighbors to begin cleaning up the mess left behind by the EF-4 tornado that tore through our community. 

“The first hour or two was sad, they want to know what you’re going through, but they don’t because they are kids,” Josh said. “But you could tell they care because they were all crying. I don’t think they realized how bad it was until they got there. I had sixth graders out there, their little brothers out there on skid steers moving stuff. We had a group of 30 to 50 people out there and they knocked it out by three o’clock that day.”

For Shelby and Leighton Avera, a couple who grew up in London, the news was heartbreaking. 

“I woke up in the middle of the night and heard of the news that the tornado had come through, but at that point I had no idea of the severity,” Shelby said. “I checked on our families and went back to sleep. We got up that morning and learned that Sunshine Hills was pretty much gone which was right around the corner from our home church, Hart. About that time, we learned that my aunt and uncle had lost everything.”

The couple, who have been living in Louisville for the past year, dropped everything they were doing, went shopping for supplies and packed up to head to their hometown of London.

“We didn’t have a plan, but we knew that given our church was so close, pretty much ground zero, that there would be something we could do,” Shelby said.

Once back in London, Shelby and Leighton immediately jumped in to help their community, serving alongside other members of their church, Hart Baptist. Members of all ages were out helping by taking donations for tornado victims, helping to sort through those donations and delivering those donations throughout the community to those who needed them.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Shelby said. “Hart established a mission for this summer for our members and our youth to ‘Love on London,’ instead of going out of state like we had in years past. There’s a huge mission field right in our front yard, and while our hearts hurt for our community, the Lord literally laid a huge opportunity right at our feet. We just want to be the hands and feet of Christ and be able to show that love through our actions, not just our words. What better way to do that than now.”

Much like Hart Baptist Church, churches all over the county have been a beacon of light for our devastated community, taking up donations and sending out groups of people to help clean up the rubble left behind.

Volunteers from near and far descended upon the affected areas, armed with tools and a determination to help rebuild.

Businesses have found their own unique ways to help tornado victims, such as salons offering a free shampoo and styling to those who have lost their homes or spent days without electricity.

Community members have stepped up in so many ways, such as cleaning out their closets to help clothe those who have lost everything, donating their time and efforts to help families search through the rubble for their precious belongings and providing shelter to families who have been displaced, providing a much-needed feeling of security during such a trying time.

Beyond our own community, we have had people all over the state and beyond offering their donations and support following such a tragedy, with Governor Andy Beshear making multiple visits to London to see the devastation firsthand and offering help at the state level.

“From every aspect of this, it’s been overwhelming to see the love and support that our community has gotten,” said Mayor Randall Weddle days following the tragedy. “At the end of the day, we all may not have to agree on things and have disagreements, but today, yesterday and the days prior, and the days coming, we’re Kentuckians; we’re Laurel Countians—we’re just a community and that’s what we’ve been seeing. From the bottom of our hearts here at the city, thank you to everyone.”

Local leaders have played a crucial role in guiding the recovery process, working closely with relief organizations, government agencies, and community members to ensure that resources were used effectively.

Victims of the deadly tornado have received kindness in so many ways. For Josh and his wife, they received kindness from a stranger who heard their story and wanted to offer them use of their vehicle in the days following the tragedy.

“She said ‘here are the keys, the insurance is in the glovebox, just let me know when you’re done with it,” Josh said. “I’m a prideful guy; I don’t like asking people for help. I don’t like to ask for money or food or supplies, but to have people come take totes off to wash our clothes, clean our shoes. It is hard to say ‘thank you’ to every single person because it would take me two days to list them all off and I would still miss someone. It’s just so overwhelming.”

Sarah and her family have received kindness from their church family and strangers alike, with donations of clothing, money for groceries and other needed supplies and just simply lending an ear.

“We have felt so much love and support and kindness from people we know and strangers,” she said. “We have been so blessed. To all of those who have supported us in this devastating tragedy, thank you so very much. Me and my family are so thankful and grateful.”

Tonya said she has been overwhelmed with gratitude because of the outpouring of love, support and strength from those who helped to clear debris, bring supplies or just simply offered a shoulder to lean on.

“It’s overwhelming—neighbors helping neighbors, strangers becoming lifelines,” she said. “The kindness is humbling, a reminder of our shared strength. As a strong, independent woman, asking for help doesn’t come easily. But I’m learning that when someone extends a hand, you grab it and hold tight. I’ve volunteered with Samaritan’s Purse during floods, and serving others always filled my soul. Now, my neighbors and I are the ones in need. The outpouring of love—meals, tools, embraces—lifts us up. It’s more than I can put into words, a wave of gratitude that carries us through the wreckage.

“We’re heartbroken, but we’re not broken—because of you. Thank you for being our light in the darkness.”

Sarah leaves a piece of advice for those who choose not to take the warnings seriously.

“These storms are no joke and very easily could have claimed our lives,” she said. “Take precautions and have a plan for your survival in the event of a storm.”

The tornado may have brought destruction, but it also revealed the unbreakable spirit of the people, our people. It reminded everyone that, in times of crisis, the strength of our community lies in its ability to come together, to support one another, and to rebuild with hope and love. The story of this community is a testament to the power of unity, resilience, and the enduring human spirit.

As community members begin to rebuild their lives and their homes, let us all continue to lend a helping hand to our fellow neighbor and uplift one another as we move on from the tragedy that occurred in our little town on that fateful night.

“Our spirit—resilient, caring, unbreakable—defines us, and no storm can change who we are,” Tonya said.