DAWSON SPRINGS CLEANUP12-15-21 (11).jpeg

DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (WDRB) -- The stories from those who survived the western Kentucky tornadoes are heartbreaking — life forever changed for the people of Dawson Springs.

Neighbors helping neighbors as they start clearing through the rubble of their homes, forging a new path forward.

"A lady in town ran up to me and she said 'you're alive.' And I was like, 'yeah,' and she was like 'well by the looks of your home,' she said, well I had no idea I didn't know my home had been touched," Tracy Bruce said.

There are simple things in life that so many take for granted every day — a roof over our heads, a warm bed to sleep in at night, and hot food on the table. What happened in Dawson Springs is a sobering reminder of how fragile life is and how quickly things can change.

"It had got like, really quiet and then you hear like this loud screaming roar," Ginny Watts said. "And like our ears are popping and the pressure (is) so much and you just hear things shattering, the house ripping away, the kids screaming."

The destruction is almost incomprehensible until you've seen it firsthand or have gone through something like this yourself.

"There have been five of us that have totally lost, like five families that have totally lost everything just within our immediate family," Watts said.

IMAGES | Residents of Dawson Springs, Ky. begin picking up the pieces after tornado

It's something that shakes you to your core.

"You see it on movies, you see it on the news of other people everywhere but, until it happens to you, you do not ... you do not understand," Bruce said.

For the survivors, this is not a headline, it is their new reality.

"It feels like a nightmare that you don't wake up from," said Bruce.

It's not a story that will fade into the background in a few days or weeks, this is what life looks like for the foreseeable future.

"Don't forget about it six months down the road," Watts said. "Because the people are still, we're still going to be struggling."

Without a pen to begin writing their next chapter, many don't know what to do from here.

"For many people they will try to find a way to stay here," Sally Hicks said. "Some may leave, but I bet most of them try to find a way to stay."

But still, they are here turning a new page as they pick up the pieces of their lives.

"You know you're really happy when you find something that was a memento of your children, or your parents, and you just keep going," Hicks said.

Somehow finding the strength to push forward. 

"There's no choice," Watts said. "I mean, you always gotta keep climbing and keep doing ... we can't stop now."

They are resilient, they are hardworking, they are Kentucky strong.

Related Stories:

Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.