We all like to think that in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami or flood, we would know exactly what to do, that we would survive. But the truth is, when natural disasters strike, we don’t tend to get a memo with a warning that impending danger is on the way — and that is precisely why people are caught off guard and in serious peril whenever they occur.
One New Orleans mom found this out firsthand Tuesday, when she was suddenly faced with an terrifying situation: Having mere seconds to figure out how to keep her infant daughter from the harm of an oncoming tornado.
That fateful day, Amanda Stockfelt brought her daughter to work with her at a local impound lot, because of a scheduled doctor’s appointment she had that same morning. But before she knew it, the thunderous sound of a tornado came barreling right towards the metal camper her office was housed in. Thankfully, though, Stockfelt used quick thinking and gut instincts and leaped into action.
In an interview with TODAY, Stockfelt said, “All I could think of was to put my daughter back in her car seat, to strap her in. I shoved her underneath my work desk and I got underneath with her.”
Stockfelt, her 2-month-old daughter Autumn, and a co-worker, all crammed together underneath a desk hoping to stay safe. What happened next was stunning.
As Stockfelt told TODAY: “We heard the trailer ripping apart, it flipped over backward and it exploded … it was like the trailer just broke into a million pieces and then the tornado sucked us up.”
During the chaos of the storm, she had looped her arm under the handle of the car seat and refused to let go.
“I have no clue how I was able to hang on to that car seat but I did, because she was above my head,” Stockfelt said, as she described how the wind had sucked the car seat up above her head while she held on as tight as she could. The winds were so strong they pulled her sneakers off her feet.
By the time the tornado had passed, Stockfelt and her daughter had fallen from the air and landed 10 feet away from where they had been huddled under a desk just moments before. While reflecting on the terrifying events, Stockfelt said, “I can get another job, I can eventually get another car. That stuff can be replaced. My daughter could never be replaced.”
Miraculously, no one suffered major injuries.
To learn more about how to stay safe during a tornado, check out these tips by meteorology experts at The Weather Channel. The tips cover situations like what to do if you are in a building, outside, in a car, or in a mobile home. They also include important terms so that you can stay informed during tornado warnings.