Alto, Tex. (KETK) – As warnings of a major storm reached the town of Alto, Stephanie Hart prepared herself. She’s been through tornado’s before, and since living in a mobile home, she says she never takes the risks of being home during one. 

When the first torando hit, Hart went to check on her home.

“I could see some of the installation at the top, but it was still in tact,” explains Hart, as she looked at damage done to her neighbors homes.

While helping her mother and father move to safety, Hart believed she was safe, until she got a phone call from a family member.

“My sister-in-law called and said it’s headed back. They say you have 17 minutes before it’s coming back. We have to leave, we have to leave. We can’t stay because we were in the path of the second one.”

-Stephanie Hart

When she went back for the second time, she was shocked at what she saw. Pointing out chairs, the stove, and the back window, she described how everything was destroyed. 

The entire mobile home gone. Hart walked KETK through where her home used to be. Explaining where the bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom once stood. While walking, she found a hat. One of the only items visibly left in the aftermath. 

As volunteers started seperating items, and moving debris, Hart told them to throw everything away, until a single picture of her daughter changed her mind. 

While walking, we found the picture faced down in the dirt, and when we turned it over, Hart exclaimed, “There is is! Yes mam, thank you! This is something that you can’t get back.”

Now, Hart is just thankful to be alive.

“What was left is just material things, material things that can be replaced, and our lives are more valuable then anything laying on this ground here.”

-Stephanie Hart

The Hart family plans on visiting where their home once stood, to search for any valuables that survived. They family also says it is a true blessing that everyone made it through the storm unharmed.