For her parents, even walking past the doorway is unbearable. “It still feels like she’s going to walk out any minute,” her mother said quietly during a vigil.

The tornado came fast. By the time the warnings reached phones, it was already roaring over the fields outside town. Witnesses described a wall of gray sweeping through, carrying trees, roofs, and entire cars as if they were toys. The 14-year-old had been at home with her mother when the storm hit. The family huddled in the hallway, but a falling beam collapsed part of the roof. Her mother survived. She did not.

Emergency responders worked through the night—digging through splintered wood, twisted metal, and debris under a flickering orange sky. By dawn, the full scale of destruction became clear. Entire