After mother killed in 2011 tornado, South Pittsburg woman reunited with family photo
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — The April 27th, 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak is a day many families can't forget.
Thanks to debris found by random strangers, some relatives of tornado victims are able to be reunited with lost items they thought they'd never see again.
Pamela Hill lives in South Pittsburg and she remembers that day in 2011 all too well.
It was the day her mother, Linda Boatner, and her niece, Chelsie Boatner Black, lost their lives.
"It was devastating. I am not the only one that suffered loss, but it was devastating," Hill said.
Linda Boatner's home in Higdon, Alabama was destroyed.
"People lost homes. Family. Belongings. Everything. There wasn't much we salvaged from her house. Very, very few things," Hill said.
But she was able to be reunited with something she thought would be impossible.
A stranger found this image of Hill's mother, dad and son in Knoxville, Tennessee weeks after the storm.
"That drive is approximately three hours away,"" Hill said. "It almost seemed unreal because of where it was located."
Hill is not the only one that has had a situation like this.
Dr. John Knox is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia.
He created a study analyzing more than 900 pieces of debris from the 2011 outbreak posted on a Facebook page, in hopes of returning them to their owner. A woman running the page helped locate the owners of the debris and returned 1,700 items to their families.
"Other people would say, 'Oh, I think I recognize the people in this picture,' which is amazing," Knox said.
Knox used this woman's Facebook page to publish this study on the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Knox says the furthest one from his study was a photo flying as far as 220 miles.
But how do these items get relocated across state lines?
"The objects appear to go up the funnel and into the thunderstorm itself and ride what's known as the updraft high up into the tornado," Knox said.
Knox says their research allows them to understand how toxic waste and chemicals can travel in the event of a tornado.
For Hill, being reunited with something as simple as a photo is more than a random act of kindness.
"It was great, because my mother had shoeboxes and albums of pictures that were gone. Just having one meant a lot," Hill said.
Dr. Knox's study has been published on the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
He says the Facebook page was operated by one woman and she helped connect with families of tornado victims with debris on the page. It has since been deactivated.
The 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak had 362 separate tornados sweep across several state lines between April 25th and April 28th, according to NOAA. An estimated 321 people died as a result.
