Watch: Heartwarming Moment Kentucky Tornado Survivor is Reunited With Her Dog
She never gave up hope.
A Kentucky tornado survivor has been reunited with her beloved dog, Nola, after searching through the rubble for days.
The heartwarming moment was captured by Dutch journalist Lucas Waagmeester as he helped the unidentified woman search for her dog in Mayfield. The woman told Waagmeester that the tornado had tossed her home into the air, throwing it ‘20 feet back from where it started’.
‘We were in the house when it all happened on Friday night, and we lost her,’ she said, describing the damage. ‘The power went out, the house began to shake, we were lifted off the ground, and we lost our dog.’
When the house finally landed, the woman was surrounded by gas and power lines. Since then, she has searched frantically for her dog.
In the now-viral video, Waagmeester can be heard pointing out a dog that was running out of a pile of debris. The woman can be heard shouting 'Nola! Nola!' as she runs to tearfully embrace the animal.
'It's okay. It's okay. Come here my baby,' she said.
The clip offers a brief moment of joy amid a disaster that has claimed the lives of at least 75 people across Kentucky, after the deadliest tornadoes in 130 years tore through the state last weekend.
Animal protection groups are working to reunite strays with their families, with many cats and dogs believed to still be inside destroyed houses or hiding under porches and bushes.
"Sadly, a lot of people have died in their homes here, and what they're going to end up doing is just bulldozing this place," said Kitty Block, the Humane Society's chief executive, who headed to Mayfield.
"Cats are hiding in the eaves. They are under the porches. They are inside the houses. They are under the bush in the back, and we just want to get them before this happens."
The Mayfield Graves County Animal Shelter is currently looking after nearly 70 animals and has room for more, according to David Spalding, the shelter's president.
Block said the aim is to bring the animals to the shelter, give them the treatment they need, and then "get the message out that people can come, get their animals, find their animals, and be reunited with them."
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