'It don't seem real': In tiny Kentucky town, tornado deaths felt by everyone

BREMEN, Ky. — Felicia Lewellen stretched her body across her four children Friday night, hoping to God the house would hold as a tornado rolled through this tiny Kentucky city.

It was about 11 p.m., so Gabriel, 1, Vivian 3, Carson 4 and Estella, 5, were in bed trying to sleep. But instead of being in their beds at home, they were in a neighbor’s basement with nine other people who sought shelter as the weather worsened.

“Everything else around us you could just hear it falling through and crumbling. A fridge flew through the house,” Lewellen said. “All kinds of trees and stuff fell on the basement, so we were trapped in the basement.”

But all 13 people in the basement made it out. They lost possessions, but not their lives, and Lewellen said that’s all that matters.

“Coming out of the basement, you’re hearing people screaming for their kids and everybody else,” she said. “But we have everybody.”

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Kentucky officials are anticipating the death toll from the tornadoes late Friday and early Saturday will surpass 100. As of Monday afternoon, there were 74 confirmed deaths. Bremen, a city of 300 people, accounted for more than 10 of them.

Lewellen’s trailer made it through the storm. But both her car and her boyfriend’s were smashed by a tree. The damage included the kids' car seats, but the couple was able to salvage all but one of the Christmas presents stowed in the vehicles.

A drive around the area showed many residents' belongings were beyond salvaging. Homes were in pieces, with bits of siding and insulation strewn across lawns, and cars sat crumpled by the force of the storm or fallen trees.

In one rural area of town, corn covered the ground, mixing with the mud, after being pulled from a silo by the storm.

Lewellen, whose parents' lost their home Friday, said there's been no way for the community to know yet how long it will take for cleanup.

The 26-year-old recounted her experiences while standing behind the counter at Nickolas' Corner, ringing in orders for BLTs and biscuits and gravy.

She didn’t work the Saturday shift. But the store had kept its doors open.

“I was still trying to cope with everything,” she said.

The convenience store doors wouldn’t normally be open Sunday, but Lewellen said they decided to open since they’re the closest place for gas in town. Regulars sat in booths against the wall, drinking coffee. Tractor, the town dog, dawdled around the parking lot, and volunteers from all around made their way in for gas.

One group of volunteers stopped to see where donation drop-offs were located in town, and after talking with 28-year-resident Davida Stewart, a small donation happened right there.

Stewart’s son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren were in their trailer Friday night when the storm hit. She’d told them to come to her house, but they’d heard warnings before of bad weather that never happened, her son told her.

While the family was inside, the trailer went airborne and flipped multiple times. Everyone survived, but they had to be dug out from under the trailer.

The family has moved in with Stewart for now, having lost their home and possessions, a few of which the volunteers aimed to replace after finding out the kids’ clothing sizes and giving them some baby wipes and a few shirts.

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Meanwhile, the Bremen Volunteer Fire Department served as a central hub for volunteer assignments. The city's Facebook page posted a callout early in the day for people who had chainsaws and were willing to cut down trees.

"Come to the Bremen Fire Department to be assigned a location," the post read.

Just down the road Bremen Elementary School was set up as an aid hub, and families in need of food, toiletries and clothing could come through with a shopping cart to pick up supplies.

“This little community is freaking awesome,” Stewart said. “If something happens we all gather together. One for all and all for one.”

Stewart’s children and grandchildren made it through safely, but the family is still dealing with loss. The youngest death in town, a 5-month-old infant, was Stewart’s second cousin.

And in a community the size of Bremen, where everyone knows everyone, all of the deaths are hard. “We lost a couple that’s dear and true to all of our hearts,” Stewart said.

She said she’s never seen anything like what she’s seen over the past two days.

“It just don’t seem right. It don’t seem real,” she said. “It’s like we’re in a nightmare, and we just can’t wake up.”

Sarah Loesch can be contacted at sloesch@gannett.com with story ideas and questions.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Bremen, Kentucky, starts cleanup, donations after tornado deaths