tornado
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
December 28, 2023 ·  3 min read

2 Babies Found Alive In Upside-Down Bathtub After Kentucky Tornado

Clara Lutz was looking after her tiny little grandchildren when the Kentucky tornado struck. It hit their home and carried her grandchildren away, into the air.

The two infants were, Kaden and Dallas, 15 and 3 months old, respectively. Clara was keeping an eye on them, as usual. She used to do this on the weekends to give the kids’ parents a break.

Clara was alerted in the morning about the path of the tornado. It was expected to hit her town and she, instantly, took the children to the bathtub. 

Clara Did Her Best To Protect The Babies From The Tornado

She did her best to keep the children away from any harm.

Some people recommend getting into a bathtub during tornadoes. The construction and pipes make these tubs sturdier than other parts of the home.

She placed the babies in the bathtub with a pillow, a blanket, and a Bible. This was just minutes before the natural calamity hit her home and devastated everything she had built.

“I felt the rumbling, I felt the shanking of the house. The next thing I knew, the tub had lifted and it was out of my hands,” Clara said in a statement[1]. “I couldn’t hold on. I just – oh my God.” and she broke off.

The bathtub flew away into the sky with the babies in it. A water tank, which was present in the bathroom, hit Clara in the head and stunned her temporarily.

Read: Teenager Crushed By Forklift Chooses To Amputate Bottom Half Of Body To Save His Life

Clara Looked For The Babies And Did Not Give Up

Clara with her rescued grandchildren
Image Credits: Nancy McDonald | Facebook

After the winds had slowed down and the tornado had passed through completely, Clara went out and frantically looked for the infants.

She was scared as she could not find the babies anywhere and believed that they were lost entirely. Nevertheless, she kept her search going on under the heavy rain.

I was looking everywhere to see where the tub may be. I had no clue at all where these babies were. All I could say was ‘Lord, please bring my babies back to me safely. Please, I beg thee,’” she told.

Read: Man ‘killed’ in car crash stuns family by turning up at home alive and well

Finding The Lost Infants

Rescuers later arrived at the scene and started to help the locals. One of these rescuers came up to Clara and informed her that they had found a bathtub laying upside down. The bathtub had both Dallas and Kaden underneath it. Take a look at a news report covering the incident:

I got in the sheriff’s car down at the end of my driveway, and it wasn’t long after that that they opened up the door and brought me Kaden, my 15-month-old. And they brought me my 3-month-old, baby Dallas. They brought him to me. He had a goose egg on the back of his head, we didn’t know what was wrong,” Clara said.

Authorities took Dallas to the hospital without wasting a minute. They found out that the baby had suffered some internal bleeding in the brain but it had stopped. It had stopped way before they reached the Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.

The Governor’s Word On The Tornado

Around 78 people had died last week in Kentucky, as the storms swept through the state [2]. Gov. Andy Beshear called it the most destructive tornado event in the history of the State. He said in a press conference that all people reported missing had finally been accounted for as recovery efforts continued. Help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was extended to 6 more counties and the relief benefits related to funeral expenses were increased to $10,000.

Harrowing bodycam footage shows the moment the babies were found.

Keep Reading: Texas Woman Flew Through Tornado in Bathtub, Landed Unharmed

Sources

  1. 2 babies survive after tornado carries them away in bathtub.” 14 News. Jordan Yaney. December 16, 2021.
  2. Kentucky tornado: Two babies found alive after being blown away from home in their bathtub.” Independent