Alabama tornado survivors recover belongings and share their close calls

Survivors have new perspective after deadly Alabama tornado

Survivors share close calls after Alabama's deadly tornado sent 170 mph winds tearing through Lee County.

OPELIKA, Ala. – On Tuesday, officials released the names of the 23 people who died when an EF-4 tornado swept through parts of Lee County – ripping apart dozens of homes and destroying communities. According to Bill Harris, Lee County coroner, at least seven of the victims were from the same family and were in nearby homes when the lethal twister crossed their path.

Gary Todd lives on one of the hardest-hit roads in Lee. His home of 30 years was destroyed after Sunday’s tornado brought winds of up to 170 mph through his community, toppling his homestead in the process. He spent most of the day on the land where his mobile home used to stand -- trying to collect whatever belongings he could find in the tangle of clothes, splintered wood and broken glass.

“Tub over there, water heater, dressers, tables, front door, another TV,” said Todd as he surveyed the area where his home was knocked off its foundation.

FOR ALABAMA STORM SURVIVORS, HUMAN TOLL IS WORSE THAN PROPERTY LOSS

Broken wood and debris scattered all over land where a home used to stand before an EF-4 tornado swept through Lee County, Ala, (Fox News/ Charles Watson)

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Todd said he wasn't in the tornado's path because he was at his girlfriend’s house at the time. He said his mother was lucky, too. She was headed home from church but decided to make a quick stop at a dollar store as the tornado blasted through their home. Todd is almost certain he and his mother would have been killed had they made different choices.

“Just thinking about it makes me want to just well up,” he said. “It gives you a whole new perspective on things.”

AFTERMATH: ALABAMA'S TORNADO DEAD RANGE IN AGE FROM 6 TO 89

A bar owner, David McBride, recalled his own close call with the powerful tornado. He initially decided to seek shelter in a room in his business, but when McBride saw the storm whip up debris outside, he opted to take shelter elsewhere. He said he made a quick decision and drove to the gas station next door, where he took cover behind a concrete wall.

“I pulled around and took my truck, and I barely got in front of the store before everything blew apart, and then the windows blew out of the store onto the hood of my truck,” McBride recalled. “It was very scary.”

His bar was gutted.

“We can make another one of these," he said, reflecting on the disaster and fate. "We can’t make another one of me.”

As the community tries to clean up from the nation’s deadliest tornado since 2013, some residents said they'd rebuild -- but some of the hardest-hit communities won’t be the same.

“I don’t think it can be rebuilt, not like it was,” said Jackie Phillips, whose home )not counting a down tree in the yard) was not damaged. “How do you rebuild from this?”