5 homes, 3 generations, 1 horrific day: Family reflects on devastating 2012 Henryville tornado

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's safe to say no family in Henryville had more homes hit by the devastating Henryville tornado 10 years ago than the Dietrichs.

Five homes, three generations, one horrific day — but they all survived.

The Dietrichs owned five homes just north of Highway 160 as you go into Henryville from Interstate 65. Four of them were flattened by winds up to 175 miles per hour on March 2, 2012, when an EF-4 tornado roared through town.

"Our house, my parents' house, my grandparents' house, my sister's house ... and it came through and we lost all four of them," said attorney John Dietrich.

Dietrich and his two sons survived in the basement of their home. Then it was time to check on all the relatives who lived within about 200 yards. Dietrich's parents survived in their basement. His mother, Reva Dietrich, is now 89 years old. She rebuilt on the same spot where she watched the tornado from a small basement window.

"I looked out at one of 'em and I said 'there goes one tree ... there goes another tree ...' I came upstairs and I told Bob 'it's all gone. There isn't anything,'" Reva Dietrich said.

Next door, Dietrich's granddaughter's home was gone too, with her husband's police cruiser deposited in the basement. The only home of the five left standing was a couple hundred yards to the north. John Dietrich's brother's home suffered some exterior damage, but was repairable.

Cop car through Dietrich's basement.jpeg — The police car of the husband of one of the Dietrichs, which was lodged into what used to be a home's basement during the Henryville tornado on March 2, 2012.

Though he'd made it through one of the worst tornadoes to hit the area in half a century, John Dietrich had no idea his closest brush with death was yet to come.

"I can talk about all of it, and it doesn't really bother me," he said. "But that part does."

Hail the size of softballs started to rain down as he ran with his sons Johnny and Jacob to check on the rest of the family. It's the part of that day that's hard for him to talk about because he thought his sons might die. But, he took the worst of the hailstones.

Henryville tornado 2012 hail — Hail the size of softballs came down during the Henryville tornado on March 2, 2012.

"I got hit by one of them in the head and felt like I was going to go out," he said. "I was bruised from top to bottom, and I think all three of us were."

Only one of his sons didn't require stitches on his head, and Dietrich said he can't rule out some divine intervention.

"He grabbed a book and had it over his head and he was running with it on his head and we found out later it was Jackie's mom's family bible," he said.

In what could be another sign of divine intervention, something else was left standing in the front yard of John and Jackie Dietrich: A tree with a piece of wood driven through it by the tornado, forming a perfect cross which still stands there today.

Dietrichs' limb through tree trunk current.jpeg — This tree in the Dietrich's front yard had a limb lodged through it during the Henryville tornado on March 2, 2012. This is what it looks like today.

Another reminder of the tornado is John Dietrich's hail-battered truck he currently drives. He bought the damaged truck from a friend across Highway 160 for a great price, but it's not the only reminder of that day 10 years ago.

John Dietrich hail damaged truck.jpeg — John Dietrich's hail damaged truck.

Jackie Dietrich had her own idea of a time capsule of the twister, gathering pieces of drywall from the pile of rubble that used to be their home and her kids put their marks on them with some ink.

"I made sure all of their hands and footprints were on there, so I had 'em framed and put up there," she said, pointing to the wall in the foyer of the home they rebuilt on the same lot.

Dietrichs framed drywall from 2012 tornado.jpeg — Jackie Dietrich had her own idea of a time capsule of the March 2, 2012 tornado, gathering pieces of drywall from the pile of rubble that used to be their home and her kids put their marks on them with some ink.

While two family members have since moved on from Henryville, three Dietrichs remain on the land that's been in the family since the 1800s. Reva Dietrich lost her husband to an illness a few months after the tornado, but she said she's never lost her love for the town she's always called home.

"I like it," she said. "What's not to like?"

From the stream by their house, crawdads keep churning up mementos of items from the home they lost in the tornado that the Dietrichs save on their porch.

Remnants from 2012 Henryville tornado at Dietrichs home.jpeg — From the stream by their house, crawdads keep churning up mementos of items from the home they lost in the tornado that the Dietrichs save on their porch.

"From a physical standpoint, we lost quite a bit. But not necessarily like others, who lost limbs, death," John Dietrich said.

IMAGES | 2012 Henryville, Indiana tornado flattened homes and destroyed lives

The Dietrichs don't dwell on the destruction. No one suffers nightmares from the devastation. Instead, the tornado is basically just a reference point for them. As John Dietrich put it, "Was that before or after the tornado that we took that vacation?"