Tornadoes have always been mysterious to us. We used to live in an area that had tornado warnings almost every year, and we still remember seeing the aftermath. It sometimes seems like tornadoes almost pick and choose what they destroy. We remember driving through areas where tornadoes touched down and seeing one house that was completely destroyed, but the house next door wasn’t damaged at all.

If you’ve ever lived in an area that gets tornadoes, you probably know that you’re supposed to evacuate (if you have time). We remember hearing the tornado sirens in our small town warning us to leave. We also remember sleeping in our car in a parking lot during one particular tornado warning.

If you don’t have time to evacuate during a tornado warning, you definitely need to seek shelter. A basement or cellar is a good idea. If there isn’t anywhere underground to go, you want to find a room without windows. A bathroom or closet usually fits the bill.

Besides destroying buildings and flipping cars, tornadoes can also send debris flying through the air, so no matter what, you don’t want to be standing outside, or who knows, you just might end up visiting Oz like Dorothy.

On March 3rd, 2019, a deadly tornado ripped through Lee County in Alabama. Residents only had about 8 or 9 minutes warning to seek shelter from the funnel. Without time to evacuate or a basement to hide in, one family choose to hide in a windowless room. This particular room was their grandmother’s prayer closet.

After the tornado, Jason Smith was helping Billy Graham’s Rapid Response Team, and when he saw this particular house, he had to snap some pictures. The house was completely flattened except for one part – grandma’s prayer closet.

Smith posted the pictures on Facebook with the following text:

Listen to me please. I just left a family who survived the tornado in this house and the only left standing is this closet. It’s the grandmother’s prayer closet, and the whole family survived. Are you kiddin me!!! My God is awesome!!! Shout somebody!

Smith’s post has since gone viral and been shared over 98,000 times. This story of survival is truly incredible! Say what you will about prayer, in this case, the prayer closet was spared. That seems truly miraculous to us.

Have you ever had to evacuate from a tornado? Have you ever seen a miraculous story of survival like this before?