SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Severe storms tore through the South and Midwest late Friday and early Saturday, killing at least 27 people in Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia. Hardest hit? Kentucky, where a tornado struck in the middle of the night and killed at least 18 people in the southern and southeastern parts of the state. From the city of London, just south of Lexington, John McGary of member station WEKU has a survivor story.
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JOHN MCGARY, BYLINE: In parts of Laurel County, Kentucky, it's time to clean up and see what, if anything, can be saved. Around midnight Saturday, a tornado roared through Pulaski County, where one person was killed, and Laurel, where 17 died. Two of the survivors were Mayme Caudill and her teenage grandson. She says her daughter called to say it's at the nearby London-Corbin Airport and to get in the closet.
MAYME CAUDILL: The house started shaking, and then the next thing I heard was, like, rumbling, like, a loud noise. Next thing was just, like, glass breaking everywheres and wood breaking, and we couldn't hardly open the closet door to get out.
MCGARY: The next morning, shelters with donated supplies like food, cots, bedding and even pet food were set up at First Baptist Church and South Laurel County High School (ph) in London, the county seat. Heather Lynn helped organize the massive relief effort at the high school, where some delivered shovels for the cleanups.
HEATHER LYNN: We're a very tight-knit community, and when something goes wrong, we all pull together as one, and we always build back.
MCGARY: The community got help in the search and rescue efforts from the Anderson County Fire Department, 2 1/2 hours away. Jimmy Robinson is their deputy chief.
JIMMY ROBINSON: We went into where the actual - the tornado had came through, so there's a lot of damage to homes, homes destroyed, just debris everywhere.
MCGARY: The outside help, which included the Kentucky National Guard and other units, was needed. Laurel County Sheriff John Root says he's lived there all of his 59 years.
JOHN ROOT: This is probably - I'm going to be honest with you. I'd say, when it's all said and done - I've got 40 years of law enforcement. I'd say this is going to be the worst incident that I've ever saw.
MCGARY: Back at Mayme Caudill's home of a decade, she says she doesn't know whether it can be saved.
CAUDILL: I never want to go through this again, never. That was my first time, and I don't want a repeat.
MCGARY: For NPR News, I'm John McGary in London, Kentucky.
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