It's over 80 degrees In Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and all that remains of Patricia Kenny's house is a few walls that was once the center of her home. The bathroom and the closet that she and her family took cover in when the tornado hit on Friday night is still standing. A group of volunteers work in the heat and around the rubble to try to find some of Kenny's most important belongings, which include a very important makeup case.
Crema Koury and her daughter Manning say their main goal for the day is to help Kenny find a white makeup case that includes birth certificates, social security cards, and other important documents. Koury is one of the many volunteers that came to help Rolling Fork families look through the remains of their homes after an EF4 Tornado swept through four counties in Mississippi, killing 25. She's been helping Kenny and her family for two days, saying they picked this home specifically because of its street address including "333," which Koury and her daughter say were lucky numbers for Koury's late mother.
"People would do it for us." said Manning, who has a '3' tattooed on her wrist. "We're trying to find stuff you can't really get back... just stuff that holds importance. Some stuff you can replace, but some you can't."
Brenda Morris, Kenny's sister, was in the house when the tornado hit. The house collapsed on her, her niece, and several other family members that were in the home. Morris was trapped with her family for several minutes under walls and parts of vehicles. She says her family all survived, but one had to leave town for emergency care.
"I just thank the Lord we're all safe, but my nephew, he had to go to the Emergency room in Jackson." she said. "He had a hit... his brain was pushing into his skull. So far he's doing fine by the praise of God... we gonna pray that he, you know, comes out of it and is fine."
Morris and Kenny both say their families being safe is what's most important to them. But like many families in Rolling Fork, their belongings were nearly completely destroyed.
"We lost everything," Morris said. "We trying to find purses with our IDs in it. We lost clothes, we lost important papers. It's just... everything is gone. We just out here trying to find everything where we can, you know, to save something."
Morris says her family is very grateful for the volunteers that have come out to help them like the Koury family. Crama Koury was living on the coast during Hurricane Katrina, and says volunteers came to her and her family's aid then. She said these moments, while tragic, bring out the best in humanity.
"People are good when it comes right down to it." she said. "I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat or whatever or how divided you are on a normal day... when something like this happens, people are good."
The image in Rolling Fork is one of destruction, but when Koury's nephew pulls a white case out of the rubble after hours of looking, all Kenny and her new friends can do is cheer.
