The National Weather Service has rated this E.F. 4 tornado when it was in the Racine area.
And after surveying the destruction, survivors in this area say they were truly lucky to be alive today.

“It was like stepping into a movie,” says Amy Rice, who survived the storm. “Something you see on the news, not something I experience."

What Rice and Tanya Root are experiencing is very real.
Their house north of Racine was demolished during Saturday’s tornado.

"It's just mostly all just ruined,” Rice says.

But, the two girls are alive and very thankful knowing fourteen lives were taken by the storm.

"This is where we took shelter,” says Root. “We jumped in the tub."

When they came out, everything was destroyed.

"We're still finding a lot of pictures,” says Rice.

Rice and Root survived the storm, but many others in Newton County weren’t as lucky. Twelve people in the county were killed by the tornado that demolished a path more than a mile wide.

"Destruction, I'm not talking houses partially down, I'm talking houses that are leveled and trees to the ground,” says Dan Bracker with the Missouri Highway Patrol.

"Just thank God we're alive,” says Root.

Alive and after seeing what the tornado did and that's all that matters.

"This is our house, we're proud of it and now it's gone,” says Root. “But, we're a live and I can't ask for more than that."


Law enforcement says the major roads have been cleared of debris.
But a lot of people are driving through the area, basically sightseeing.
Officials ask that if you have no business being in the area, stay away.