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The tornado ripped off the roof and pushed down walls, and Chad Henson felt himself being sucked up into the air. His wife, Teresa, hung on to him until it passed.
Shaken, they climbed out from under tree limbs, pieces of concrete block and insulation, looked at the devastation all around the valley on this day, April 27, and considered themselves lucky.
But that feeling of fortune took a hit last week. Their new, temporary home -- a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer -- burned down.
It happened Sept. 2 next to the spot where their house used to be.
"I'm not sure at this point what we are going to do," said Chad Henson, 40, a former state trooper and military veteran now on disability. "I'm just at a loss, so confused and bewildered about why it's happening. One minute I'm asleep and the next minute I've lost everything -- again."
The family -- Chad, Teresa and stepson Zac -- escaped without injury again, although the trailer is gutted and unusable.
Investigators have not reached an official determination on the origin of the fire but it appears to be the trailer's electrical breaker box, said Shoal Creek Valley Volunteer Fire Chief Vernon White.
Chad said he occasionally had heard electrical snaps and pops when turning on a light near the breaker box. "It was like, zzzzzzt," he said.
FEMA, which supplied the trailer, issued a statement calling the fire an isolated incident, but out of "an abundance of caution" it will inspect other trailers during regular maintenance. As of last week, FEMA had 289 trailers occupied by tornado victims around the state.
"The safety and ongoing recovery of disaster survivors are FEMA's priorities," FEMA spokesman Mike Stone said in the statement. "We are now working with the affected individual to provide alternate temporary housing."
But Chad Henson said Friday he had not been offered another trailer and would like one.
FEMA officials declined to discuss the Hensons' situation, citing privacy rules.
The family, meanwhile, is staying at a nearby motel thanks to donations from local churches and the Red Cross. But that will end soon, and Chad said they may start sleeping on the floor of a house down the street that belongs to his wife's parents, as they did in the tornado's aftermath. Or they may move into a travel trailer on the property.
After the tornado, the Hensons received the maximum FEMA payout -- $30,200 -- and Chad said he is thankful for that. The money has helped to replace possessions, although now many of those have burned. The grant also helps in rebuilding his house. He will do some of that work himself to save money. He didn't qualify for a Small Business Administration loan.
Amid it all, he's been buoyed by the community support and his religious faith.
"Sometimes I've felt like giving up and moving on," Chad said. "If it wasn't for the faith we have and the community, I just don't know."
He worries about his wife and stepson, who are having recurring nightmares.
He doesn't understand why misfortune has struck twice in such a short time, but he and his wife realize they are fortunate to be alive.
"We knew we were going to die," he said, recalling the tornado. "We prayed and told each other we loved one another."
At the same time, stepson Zac, 27, escaped a falling tree by bailing out of the Jeep he was driving. When the trailer caught fire about 3 a.m., Zac woke up first and everyone escaped.
"We're all alive," Chad said. And looking for a new place to live.
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