When an EF2 tornado warning aired on the news, Bruce and Oona Dunlap’s cable suddenly went out.
Bruce opened the door of their home in Logan County, Arkansas, to see what was going on. «When he went outside, he said to Ona, ‘It’s awfully quiet outside, there’s no wind — there’s nothing here,'» said Julie Moore, a good friend of the couple. «She said, ‘Oh yeah, there is. Go to the shelter now.»
They didn’t know yet that in a few minutes the house would be gone.
The couple quickly got to work. She hurried to their neighbor’s room to help the disabled man climb into the storm shelter. Meanwhile, Bruce searched for the four cats and the couple’s 2 dogs.
One cat, Ladybug, was missing, and their dog Dasha refused to go outside. Bruce was forced to leave without them.
«Dasha sensed something was wrong, she went into the kitchen and lay down,» Moore said. «Bruce didn’t know what to do … when he got to the shelter, he could barely close the door.»
The tornado hit the Dunlap house, ripping the roof off and scattering debris and belongings everywhere. When they finally made it out of the shelter, it was so dark they couldn’t even tell which part of the house was still standing.
The next day, Dunlap and some friends were surveying the damage when a fuzzy face emerged from under the rubble of the house. Dasha ran out saying, «What took you so long?» said Moore. She just grabbed her by the fur, took her face and started talking to her, saying, «I’m sorry. We’re here.»
Moore pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a few pictures of the touching reunion. «She talked to her like a person, and Dasha really responded like a person — they kissed each other,» Moore said.
She and Bruce were so grateful for Dasha’s safe return, but they were still missing one member of their family — their cat Ladybug.
And then a miracle happened: Cat found her way back to her mom. «She was wet and cold and shivering,» Moore says. «She just grabbed her and started pulling the sheets out of her fur, just squeezed her and cuddled her.»
«Bruce said one thing when they found them both and she was hugging them,» Moore added, «he said: «These are your babies.»
The Dunlaps have a long way to go before their family finds peace again, but they are very grateful that they all made it through the night. Thankfully, they have the support of their community coming together to help the Dunlaps in any way they can.
The tornado took away so much, but they have each other, and that is the most important thing.