By Emily Beckett
Tommy and Rita Little’s son Chris barely made it up the front steps of their house in Maplesville before a tornado hit the area in the predawn hours of Jan. 23, 2012.
The Littles opened the front door to let their son in the house about three minutes before the lights went out and the chaos ensued.
As they hunkered down inside, the EF-2 tornado that reportedly reached speeds of 135 miles per hour that day swept over the area, ripping off their roof and blanketing them with dirt and debris.
“I remember the black dirt,” Rita said. “I remember tasting that dirt, thinking, ‘Oh, how horrible.’”
One year later, the scenes from that tumultuous morning come back to the Littles with vivid clarity.
Chris had come from his house in Maplesville at about 5 a.m. to warn his parents about the storm rolling their way and to take cover.
Rita was battling bronchitis and was scheduled for a doctor’s visit later that morning, but for several hours, she all but forgot about it.
As the electricity went out and the house began to shake, the couple said they could feel the storm’s suction tugging at their skin.
“I remember thinking something is extremely wrong,” Rita said. “The whole roof was lifted … like you would take a dollhouse roof off. I could feel my skin pulling. There was not any air in the room.”
Although the vibrations were enough to displace items in the house, heavy objects like Rita’s antique platters hanging on the wall did not hit the three as they took cover in the dining room.
Rita said a handful of her decorative glass bottles on top of her cabinets stayed in their positions during the entire storm, even when the roof blew off.
The couple credited the sturdy framework of their nearly 100-year-old home with keeping them safe and alive. The thick, wooden walls stood firm against the raging winds of the storm.
“God was definitely with us,” Tommy said.
The accompanying rain easily found its way into the exposed interior of the home, saturating the Littles, their furniture and the hardwood floors, which soon began to buckle.
As the tornado left them to regroup and survey the damage minutes later, Rita said they didn’t stray far from their spots for fear they would stumble upon a downed power line somewhere in the house.
“We waited until daylight,” Rita said. “We stayed for about 40 minutes, which seemed like a lifetime because of not knowing where our family was.”
The couple’s daughter, Shannon Brown, and her family live next door and weathered the storm in their own house, which only sustained minor roof damage.
“I was just so scared,” Brown said. “I didn’t know if (my parents) were dead or if they had survived.
“My husband actually went over there in the dark,” she said. “He went over there to check on them. He came back and said, ‘Shannon, they’re OK, but their house is gone.’”
Brown said her mother’s struggle with bronchitis made the situation even worse.
After having to sit in the pouring rain with almost no cover for at least an hour, Rita’s doctor’s appointment became crucial to her health.
“I felt really bitter because that happened to my mother,” Brown said. “I don’t know if you ever truly recover.”
One of the couple’s dogs, Daisy, did not survive.
In Rita’s words, concern and grief over the welfare of their pets made the events of Jan. 23 a “double trauma” for them.
“I just felt shock, numbness,” she said.
Neighbors and rescue personnel arrived not long after daybreak to help the Littles and other residents clean up the messes in their houses and yards.
“People were wonderful—so caring and worried,” Rita said. “When you see them after something like that, you see them differently.”
Another visitor who arrived shortly after the storm was Kendall Williams, the couple’s Alfa Insurance agent, for whom they later decided to be in an Alfa commercial to speak about his help and support in the following months.
Volunteers from organizations like the American Red Cross, the Baptist Association of Selma and the Maplesville High School football team rendered immediate aid as well.
Tears filled Rita’s eyes as she mentioned those who came by her house with supplies that morning.
“You would never dream that a cup of coffee and blanket would mean a lot,” she said. “The human spirit, I think, is what you see. It lets you know how special people are.”
The Littles spent the next five months living in Rita’s sister’s house in Maplesville and building their new house—on the same lot as their old house—with help from a committed contractor and friends.
“When we rebuilt, the safe room went up first,” Rita said. “You still have anxiety that it’s going to happen (again). It was hard to rebuild here, but it was home.”
Located inside their garage, the couple’s safe room is composed of a steel door and solid, 12-by-12-foot blocks filled with concrete and rebar.
Rita insisted that the ceiling—an 8-inch slab of concrete—be covered with wood to give the room a less stark look.
Chairs, blankets, flashlights, and toys for their grandchildren can also be found in the shelter.
“It has not even been the same since then,” Tommy said of post-storm life. “After going through that, you try to think ahead.”
After moving into their new house in June, the couple restored normalcy to their daily routines and started reaping the fruits of their labor.
“It was a challenge being our age picking out all the materials,” Tommy said.
They were able to salvage several pieces dear to them from the wreckage, including an antique claw-foot bathtub, a mahogany dresser and a kitchen safe that belonged to Rita’s grandmother.
“When you go through and pull out baby pictures that are stuck together and just ruined … it was just really, really emotional,” Brown said.
Rita and Tommy said after years of thinking they knew the dangers of severe storms, they now carry with them first-hand experiences, memories of surviving a direct blow and sympathy for others who find themselves in the same life-altering situations.
Rita said they had taken supplies to Tuscaloosa for victims of the April 2011 storms.
“Little did I know that months later, I would understand the true heartache,” she said. “Hopefully having the security of a safe room, we will have peace of mind. I want everyone to be safe.”