On Friday, a tornado destroyed their Bowling Green neighborhood and killed twelve people, including two infants.
The victims include two large families, the Browns and the Besics, all of whom lived on Moss Creek Avenue.
All four Brown kids and their parents were found dead after the storm left the tidy homes on the cul-de-sac reduced to mounds of lumber and rubble, with residents’ belongings spewed across the street.
Victoria Smith (64-year-old Brown family Matriarch) was also discovered dead in a field close to the area.
Smith’s 36-year-old daughter Rachael Brown; Brown’s 35 year old husband Steven and Nyles Brown, the youngest of the couple, were found near their family house, Cierra Bryant reported to WKYT.
Nariah Brown (16 years old) and Nolynn Brown (10 years old), were found by the couple in a nearby creek. According to police, Nyssa Brown was the 13-year old daughter of Nyssa and the couple found her about one quarter mile southwest from their home.
Bryant stated, “There wasn’t anything they could hold onto or shelter themselves from, it was all gone.”
Rachael Brown and Steven Brown are seen here with their children. (From left: Rachel, Nyssa. Nariah, Steen). After a tornado struck their Bowling Green neighborhood, Steven and Rachel were killed. Nariah (the 16-year-old daughter of Steven) was also among the victims. Nyles (4 and Nolynn (10 years respectively) were also hurt.
Officials have confirmed Nyssa (pictured)’s death on Thursday after her disappearance from Saturday.
Alisa Besic and her three children were also killed by the hurricane next door. The couple were discovered behind their house with Alisa holding the infant in her arms.
Selveta, Alisa’s sister in law, said to the Courier Journal that Alisa has left behind a 2-year old boy.
Selmir Besic (6 years old) and Samantha Besic (1 year respectively) were also among the large Besic families that died.
Two children were lost by each of the unnamed brothers (one of which is married Alisa).
Selveta noted that her brothers and their younger 25-year-old sister, who is likely paralyzed, are among four Besic family members being treated for life-threatening injuries at hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee.
Selveta stated, “We were shocked.” “One minute they’re still alive and you play with them, and within 15 minutes they’re gone.”
Kentucky was the hardest hit by the tornadoes that battered the Midwest over the weekend, resulting in at least 88 deaths across five states. Seventy four were killed in Kentucky. Six in Illinois. Four in Tennessee. Two in Arkansas. And two in Missouri.
Kentuckians that were murdered range in age between a and. Children are the most common victims, ranging in age from 2 months old to 98 years. Officials say more than 100 people remain missing.
The President Joe Biden paid a visit to the state’s destruction Wednesday, and promised residents that he would not leave. The federal government will be there until the state is rebuilt.
Biden authorized the federal declaration of disasters in Kentucky and neighboring states Tennessee and Illinois. Residents and officials will receive increased federal assistance.
Federal Emergency Management Agency has dispatched search-and rescue and emergency response teams, as well as teams to assist survivors who have registered for aid. Nearly 450 National Guard soldiers were deployed to Kentucky, and 95 are currently searching for the missing.
Biden stated, “I have never seen such severe damage from a tornado,” and told local officials to not hesitate to request anything.
Steven Brown and Victoria Smith (64-year-old Matriarch of Brown Family), are pictured. Victoria also died in the storm. The body of Victoria was discovered in a nearby field.
All four of the Brown children were killed in the storm (Pictured from left: Nyssa, Nariah, Nolynn, and Nyles Brown)
From Arkansas to Illinois, the storm’s aftermath left an extensive trail of debris.
Cierra Bryant claimed that seven members of the Brown family lived in their home. It was destroyed completely by the twister.
“My mother-in law’s truck was sitting inside their living room,” she said. She told WKYT where the living room would have been.
She has received calls from her husband, each one confirming that his family members were affected by the EF-3 tornado which struck Bowling Green.
While most family members were located within minutes of the twister striking, Nyssa was not found until nearly one week later.
Police announced that Nyssa was found by police during a press conference.
This is because Nyssa Brown is the last Brown family member to be found. Her mother, her father, her three siblings and her grandmother also perished in this terrible storm,’ said Bowling Green Police Officer Ronnie Ward.
We ask you to pray [the family]. They are going through a very difficult time. We need prayers for this difficult time.
The search for missing people in the county began with 244 individuals.
Ward added: ‘We need your prayers.’
Bryant stated that she reached out to Rachael Brown on Facebook following the destruction of the town by the tornado, but didn’t receive a response.
Bryant said, “I went on Facebook. Her messenger was online.” I messaged Bryant again, asking her if she was okay. I got nothing back. She then went offline.
Although she initially didn’t see much in the absence of responses given that much of Bowling Green wasn’t without electricity, Saturday’s drone video of the home showed her what she expected.
“On the drone footage, the drone stopped right above their home and then paused. Bryant described it as “terrible.”
Victoria Smith (right), is shown with Rachael, Steven Brown and their children (From left: Nyssa, Nyssa, Nariah and Nylynn).
Cierra Bryant and Nyles Brown are pictured together
Bryant would like the family remembered as loving, strong people rather than as victims of tornadoes.
“Miss Vicky loved all her grandbabies and was strong,” she said.
Bryant claimed Rachael had been ‘fearless’, and had a “beautiful spirit for people”. Steven was also a supportive husband and father who loved his wife and adopted her children.
“He was truly loved.” [Rachael]. She described him calling her his “love of life”. He adopted them both and named him after the girls.
Bryant told Bryant that another man, who had been helping her clean up after finding the photo album in a mess belonged to the family. In an effort to preserve the photos, he cleaned and purchased frames.
She said, “Such wonderful, kind people out here,”
Moss Creek Avenue is cleaned up by officials following a tornado that struck the street and killed 11 people.
On Dec. 14, a member of the church helps clean up the remains of her home in Bowling Green.
Selveta, who lost five family members in the storm, and now has four fighting for her life, echo the grief felt by Bryant.
Besic stated Tuesday to the Courier Journal, “We used to be a family that consisted of 21 people. Now it is 16,”
Selveta said that her house is less than one-half mile away from Moss Creek Avenue.
As the twister tore through the roof, she quickly fell on her daughter of 9 years. After that, they slid down to the first floor and sought refuge in the bathrooms.
Selveta stated that the storm was gone in a matter of seconds.
After that, she called her siblings – the twins who shared Moss Creek Avenue with their spouses and children – but received no response.
She was worried, so she carried her little girl through the storm and took her to her brother’s house.
She found very little of the houses and bodies that had been pulled out from the rubble when she arrived. Alisa had been found dead, and she was holding her infant in her arms.
One family looks through rubble from the site of their Bowling Green house on December 14th.
Officers and rescue teams are combing the wreckage to remove any potential victims.
It has caused grief among the members of this community which is made up families from Nigeria, Myanmar, Bosnia and Myanmar.
Melinda Allen Ray, who claimed she had barely slept since tornado warnings began screaming, carried her grandchildren to the bathroom as shelter from the wind whipping her home. She also said that she heard the neighbors screaming.
I was traumatized by the sounds they made. It is something that I always think of every night as I fall asleep, and it’s what keeps me awake at night. “I only think about all those little babies.
Ronnie Ward of the Bowling Green Police Department stated, “That’s hard to believe about.
According to the officer, they usually advise people to get into their bathtubs and then cover themselves with a bed. However, the severe nature of Saturday’s destruction meant that such efforts would not have been effective.
He said several homes were so destroyed that the tornado ripped all the way through the floor, exposing the earth below.
Police are now working with the police to remove any remains.
Ward explained, “So you set out to do this job and you then come across a wagon.”
“And you believe, that is associated with a childhood somewhere. Did that child ever live? They overwhelm you.
Ganimete Ademi, a Bowling Green grandmother and 46-year old refugee from Kosovo during the 1999 war that claimed her nephew and uncle were killed. She said she was reminded of her home and dark days when people fled bombings and had to lose whole families.
One of the many items that were found in Bowling Green’s rubble on December 15 is a teddy bear
Bowling Green resident Ganimete Ademi, a 46-year-old grandmother who fled Kosovo in 1999 during the war that killed her uncle and a nephew, said the storm destruction reminds her of her homeland and the dark days where people hid from bombs and lost whole families.
Ademi stated, “We came from war. This reminds us. It touches the memory. We’ve been there and we are here.” “I go back 22 years in my memories.”
Ben Cerimovic, a resident of the same area, echoed her assertions and said: “The feelings that I am having right now… I can’t really explain.”
‘There’s a strong, close-knit Bosnian community in Bowling Green that has established a solid refugee program to allow migrants to Western Kentucky. He said that most of the migrants came from war to provide better lives for their families. This subdivision now looks like a war zone. It is filled with the things that their children love.
Cerimovic stated, “Every time that I see, it’s a miracle.” [the wreckage]When I hear stories about these kids, I often think of my own children. Imagine if these were your children.