1949 Tornado

I lived on S. Benton Street at that time. I saw those clouds churning to the west of the house. Then the long twister dropped to the ground and started moving towards the north east, to me it was an awesome sight not thinking about the danger that came with that twister. I went to the front of the house and ran into Paul Hockney. We heard sirens from two directions and had bad feelings about what was going on. We headed north on Sprigg street to see what was happening. That was a shock. As we walked north we saw a woman in the street with others around her trying to help her. I saw a man pull a long piece of glass out of her stomach. We walked a little further to three piles of rubble which had been houses. A man came to us and said he needed help, he pushed Paul toward the 3rd house and me towards the 1st house. He said a small child is missing and he went to the 2nd house. I walked up to the house looking as I went and saw two small feet sticking out from a large piece of wall. I picked up the wall and saw the child. I held the wall up and called for help. The man ran over and grabbed the child and ran. I don't know if the child was alive or dead. I have always wanted to know what happened to that child, if anyone ever knew I still think about that child. I would like to know what happened. Paul and I spent that night helping to search for others that were missing. Sunday morning they said help was needed on Ben road so we headed over there. We worked on Ben road area all day till 10:00 pm Sunday night. In my heart, I still think of that child and wonder if the child survived. For a teenager that tornado and the aftermath was a very rude awakening to what storms can do, one that I have never forgotten about.