Woman recounts deadly storm
Over the past two weeks, gut-wrenching stories of loved ones lost and homes being destroyed have surfaced since the April 27 tornado tore through the county, but the story of Phil Campbell resident Krystal Norman is a story of survival.
Norman and her husband, Jamin, moved to the area from Nauvoo and had only lived in their manufactured home in Phil Campbell for five months when the tornado terrorized the tight-knit community and changed many people’s lives forever.
Because they were so new to the area, they didn’t have their cable hooked up, so Norman had no way of knowing a tornado was heading straight for her home until it was too late.
“My husband called me from work because he heard there was a tornado near Bear Creek,” Norman said. “He told me to go to the neighbor’s and get in the storm shelter, so I got off the phone, turned around to put my shoes on and when I turned back around and looked out the door, the tornado was in the field across from my house headed straight for me.”
Norman said she slammed the door and sought shelter in her bathtub, hoping the tornado would pass by. She felt her home begin to shake and before she knew it, she felt the house come off its foundation.
“I was right inside the core of the tornado, and I can tell you right now, it didn’t sound like a train,” Norman said. “It sounded like metal against metal and really strong winds. Debris was flying everywhere and I could see it because I never lost consciousness.”
Norman said the tornado tore apart the manufactured home and she fell 40 feet to the ground, landing on her face.
“After I landed on the ground, I couldn’t move at first, but I realized the tornado was still there so I tried to raise up to get to my storm shelter, but when I raised up on one knee, the tornado sucked me back up again,” she said.
Norman said after being thrashed inside the core of the tornado for what felt like an eternity, she was finally flung within inches of the storm shelter she had been trying to get to in the first place.
“I landed on my back this time, but I was able to crawl inside the storm shelter,” she said. “I had been conscious this whole time but after I got in there, I passed out.
“When I finally came to, I couldn’t really see but I crawled to my neighbor’s house. When I was halfway there my sight started to come back and I stood up and started yelling for my neighbor. He ran outside and got me and took me inside where they were hiding in what was left of their home.”
Norman said she was later taken to Russellville Hospital where she was treated for multiple deep cuts on her head, a fractured ankle, bruised lungs, fluid on her lungs and many cuts and bruises all over her body. She remained in the hospital on oxygen for five days.
“The whole time I was inside the tornado I was thinking, ‘God, please let me see my husband and my mother again – please let me make it,’” she said. “When I was sucked up in the tornado the second time, I just knew I wasn’t going to make it. There was so much debris in my face and in my mouth. It was horrifying.”
The Norman’s manufactured home is completely gone and they lost everything they had, but Krystal Norman said she’s just thankful to be alive.
“It just felt like God had his arms around me, and I just want people to know there is a God and there is hope,” she said. “Don’t ever give up, even when it seems hard and keep your faith.”
The Normans are currently staying in a hotel in Jasper thanks to a local church, but at the end of the week, they’re not sure where they’ll go.
“We received money from FEMA to get another home and we plan to move back to our seven acres in Phil Campbell, but until then we’re just on our own,” Norman said. “That’s why it’s important for people not to forget about the tornado victims because it’s going to take many of us a long time to get back to normal.”
