Henryville residents remember devastating tornado, 8 years later

HENRYVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- March 2, 2012, is a day that will never be forgotten in Henryville history.

An EF-4 tornado ripped through the town and destroyed nearly everything in its path. Eleven people were killed, and countless others were injured.

"You do kind of relive it just a little bit," Darrell Gilles said. "I try not to, but I do."

Darrell, his wife Tricia and their three kids were inside their home on Spieth Road when the tornado came barreling through. It ripped their home from its foundation with them inside.

"Everything was just gone," Tricia Gilles said. "The house was on top of us. It crushed us."

Their injuries were brutal. A broken back, crushed sternum, head trauma and many other injuries hospitalized all five of the Gilles for weeks. Since then, all five have recovered, and their home was rebuilt. It stands firm on the same property where their last home was destroyed in 2012.

Though it's been eight years, they remember it vividly.

"We look back on it every day really," Tricia Gilles said. "We are just thankful to be alive. There's so many that had passed that day. We are just thankful that our community came for us."

Others have similar stories of barely surviving. Many recall the massive twister. Video shows Henryville High School literally getting its walls blown off.

It was one of the deadliest tornadoes the area has seen, and the anniversary of the devastation always brings many emotions.

"I'm thankful on this day where you take in like 'Thank you God that I'm still here to remember this day,'" Tricia Gilles said.

"We know every day that we're blessed," Darrell Gilles added. "We thank God for that."

Henryville Gilles family — Darrell and Tricia Gilles laid over their children in a closet while the tornado ripped their home from its foundation in 2012.

Eight years later, there's hardly any remnant of damage.

Volunteers from the community and other communities rebuilt homes and repaired buildings. Businesses started over. Henryville High School even rebuilt from the ground up.

Ask the Gilles family, and they'll tell you the same tornado that ripped apart a community just as much brought it together.

"We have grown into this big family," Tricia Gilles said. "I feel like we can just look out for each other more than we ever did before."

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