On Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, Cliff Key and his husband, Chris Cates, were looking forward to kicking off the weekend by celebrating their nephew River’s fifth birthday in their new home, a cozy two-bedroom ranch on Alexander Street in the small western Kentucky town of Dawson Springs.
Both men work with adults with intellectual disabilities. Cliff is executive director at LucasaCare BG, a foster care service for adults in Bowling Green, and Chris is a training coordinator at Outwood, a residential care community living facility in Dawson Springs.
The first-time homeowners had just moved in a couple of months previously and still had some of their possessions in boxes, but they had the Christmas tree up, to the delight of the birthday boy and his 9-year-old brother, Alex.
It was starting to look a lot like Christmas, but it wasn’t starting to feel like Christmas. The weather was unseasonably warm.
The family enjoyed a small but festive birthday party. River blew out the candles on his cake decorated to look like the Minecraft computer game. The kids spent the evening playing video games and watching cartoons. They finally went to bed happy and exhausted.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks while surveying tornado damage on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)
As Cliff and Chris tidied up, they kept an ear to the TV. Weather advisories aired every few minutes warning of a possible tornado in Hopkins County, but the couple had lived through many such advisories during their 17 years in Dawson Springs and had never been hit. Besides, spring was tornado season.
Everything changed in an instant. The tornado was no longer possible but imminent. The TV meteorologist was urging Dawson Springs residents to take immediate cover.
Around 10 p.m., the couple rushed to awaken the boys. They bundled them into the hallway in the nick of time. “They were terrified, as were we,” Cliff said. “All we could do was shelter them with our own bodies.”
When it was over, Chris, who had been protecting Alex, was pinned beneath the wreckage of the house. Cliff and River were under an interior door that had blown off its hinges. The door probably protected them from missiles of flying debris, the cause of most deaths and injuries during a tornado, according to the National Weather Service.
The kids were in a state of panic. A relentless rain was pouring in where the roof had been. The power was out, and they were trapped in the cold, dark shell of a house that had been warm and inviting minutes before.
Fortunately, Kenny Mitchell, a neighbor and city councilman, heard their calls and helped dig them out.
Miraculously, they all emerged from the rubble with minor injuries and slept in the Mitchells’ basement that night. Through lightning flashes, they glimpsed the remains of their new home that now looked like a bomb site.
They didn’t know it at the time, but the family had survived the deadliest 24-hour period for tornadoes on record for December in the United States. The long-track EF4 tornado (EF5 is the strongest tornado classification) had stayed on the ground for 165 miles, with 180-mile-per-hour winds sweeping through six states, including western Kentucky.
About 75 percent of Dawson Springs was wiped out. Thirteen people were dead (two more died later in the hospital), and hundreds of the town’s 2,500 residents no longer had homes. The devastation was such that residents couldn’t tell what part of town they were in because well-known landmarks were obliterated.
“I had the mindset that it would go around us,” Chris said. “They say it’s going to hit all the time. It always misses Dawson.”
Dwelling on the “what-ifs” of the situation filled him with guilt for not evacuating with the children while they had the chance.
Their neighbor, 76-year-old Donna Parker, also thought the tornado would miss Dawson Springs. The retired high school secretary lost her home of 44 years and was among those who sheltered in the Mitchells’ basement before the tornado hit. She and her late husband, Phillip, had raised three children in their simple frame house built circa 1943.
She has fond memories of working in the garden and hanging out with friends on the deck.
A year later, it’s still difficult for Donna to talk about the moment she came out of the basement, where she had been safe but shaken to the core by the sound of the windows being blown out. Her son had arrived to take her to his home across town, but she said just making their way to the car through the rubble was an ordeal.
“I could hear people hollering for help,” Donna said. “That was the worst part—not knowing where they were or how badly they were hurt.”
She was struck by the randomness of the destruction. An outbuilding was blown away along with the lawnmower and patio furniture that were inside, but some of the most fragile items in her home were eerily undisturbed. Vintage glass family heirlooms were intact, and her Christmas tree, adorned with delicate ornaments, stood like an indestructible monolith.
This nightmare before Christmas was a blow to the entire community, but Donna knew she was lucky to be around to spend the holiday with her family. Three of her friends were not so fortunate.
She was determined to carry on with at least one longstanding family holiday tradition. “Every year at Christmas Eve, we make gingerbread houses,” Donna said. “I had already bought all the gingerbread house kits. I said, ‘If we don’t do anything else, we are going to make our gingerbread houses.’ ”
Cliff and Chris would have spent Christmas at Cliff’s mother’s house, but she had lost her home, too.
They spent the holiday with an aunt and lived with her for several months as they rebuilt their home.
The Aftermath
When Chris Smiley was elected mayor of Dawson Springs in 2019, he thought his main administrative responsibility would be presiding over city council meetings and overseeing public-works departments, such as fire and police, that keep the city going.
He couldn’t foresee that he would be called on to lead a community devastated by a natural disaster of Biblical proportions in the midst of a once-in-a-century global pandemic.
Nor did he ever dream he would be on the radar of the president of the United States, much less meet him. But on Dec. 15, Smiley was at the Princeton-Caldwell County Airport to greet President Joe Biden. Smiley rode in the presidential motorcade to Dawson Springs and escorted the president on a tour, so that he could see for himself the deep wound of destruction that now defined the town.
Biden said the federal government was committed to the rebuilding effort and promised it would cover 100 percent of cleanup costs for the first 30 days. Smiley recalled that Biden kept the Secret Service on its toes by walking up to random residents, especially children, to reassure them.
Smiley said the security presence—the Secret Service, snipers and armored vehicles—was completely overwhelming at a time when his mind was still reeling. “That was something this small-town boy had never seen before,” he said with a laugh.
The presidential visit meant a great deal to residents and boosted morale.
“That was a time when you didn’t worry about who’s a Democrat and who’s a Republican,” Smiley said. “We just had to get people back in their homes and help survivors.”
Some displaced residents were living in nearby Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park in travel trailers provided by the Commonwealth Sheltering Program.
Gov. Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear organized a toy drive to make sure every Kentucky child impacted by the tornado had a Christmas gift, even if they didn’t have a home with a tree to put it under.
Walmart turned the Dawson Springs High School gym into a store with free necessities and toys.
Assistance poured in from many sources around the country. “You don’t realize how many good people there are in the world until a tragedy like this happens,” Smiley said.
Looking to the Future
One year later, the rebuilding process is in full swing. Smiley said that FEMA has contributed $150,000 to the community, and more aid is expected. The city has built 30 houses, and Habitat for Humanity has built 20.
Donna is looking forward to hosting a family Christmas celebration in her new house on the site where her old one stood. A cheerful living room with pale green walls and hardwood floors is just big enough to entertain family and friends. A kitchen with white cabinets and shiny countertops will be a hub for holiday meal preparations. Soon, her children and grandchildren will sit at the kitchen table and make gingerbread houses.
In a house where virtually everything is new, an antique cabinet full of Donna’s precious glassware makes her new place feel like home.
As for Cliff and Chris, they are rebuilding in the same neighborhood and are pleased with the progress. They are expecting a “cheery and fun” holiday season.
“If we can get back into our house, that’s all the Christmas I need,” Chris said.