DAVIDSON COUNTY, TN (WTVF/CNN) – A 17-year-old in Tennessee protected her younger sister from flying debris after the two were locked outside while a tornado blew through the area.
Ellie Williams, 17, was home watching after her 9-year-old sister when a storm hit Saturday night. The two went outside to fix a pool tarp that was coming undone in the wind.
“I just noticed that the wind started picking up, and it was raining a little bit… So I went out there to fix it, and the wind started picking up a little bit more,” Ellie said.
But when the two returned to the house, they realized they couldn’t get back in.
"The door was locked. We locked ourselves out, so I just grabbed her and went into the fetal position, and I used some of our outdoor furniture,” Ellie said.
As the wind swirled around them, the sisters prayed for their lives.
“We were just praying that we'd be saved because it was really scary, and I remember my sister saying, 'Jesus, please save us,’” Ellie said.
Miraculously, Ellie and her 9-year-old sister are OK in spite of extensive damage to the family’s property.
"The wind died down after 15 or 20 seconds, and we looked up and things were everywhere. Our grill was right next to our heads. It had landed there,” Ellie said. "We have an old tobacco barn, and I looked outside to where it's normally sitting and I didn't see it."
While debris and a downed tree litter the yard, all the 17-year-old can think about is how thankful she is that she and her sister survived.
"I guess it was instinct, like a motherly instinct,” Ellie said.
Following the storm, two nearby barns are gone, and at least two houses are severely damaged.
The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that a tornado ripped through the area.
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