Easter tornado broke house, not owner’s faith

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — One tornado victim isn’t losing faith after her house was destroyed Easter night.

“My youngest son asked me, ‘Are we all about to die?'” Zundra Bailey said. “I told him, ‘No, we shall live, and we shall not die. God loves us, and he’s going to protect us.'”

Easter’s tornado left Bailey, her elderly parents and three kids with nothing but the pajamas on their back. The family of six barely survived — two made it into the basement, four were stranded on
the stairs.

“I heard like a whistling, high-pitched siren noise, and then next thing you know, it’s like a sonic boom, like two freight trains on the side of your head,” Bailey said. “It’s the most horrific sound
you’ll ever hear. A brick house shouldn’t shake the way that shook. You’ll never forget that moment.”

Bailey said she can see God’s fingerprints of protection all over the destroyed house. Samaritans Purse volunteers carved this tree stump into a cross, which Bailey says is the perfect symbol for their
survival.

“It means everything,” Bailey said. “Because on the cross He died, and on the cross he rose, and we rose out of this. Anything that had a reference to God, those walls, those pictures still stayed in place. They didn’t move. They didn’t shake. Everything is in place. So it was nothing but God’s grace and protection that kept us safe through all of this.”

Holly Hills looks different now, as residents begin demolishing what’s left of their homes. It’s a neighborhood that will never be the same. However, the Baileys are committed to rebuilding on the same spot.

“This is something that it should’ve been a different story,” Bailey said. “You would’ve been talking about the people who lived at this house. But we’re walking, living testimony that we survived this, and we’re Holly Hills strong, and we will rebuild over here. I’m in the process of having contractors come out because it shook and it broke everything, but it didn’t break my faith.” ”

Bailey is grateful for the help she’s received from State Farm and volunteers. However, the Baileys are still looking for temporary housing and replacements for their lost cars to get them by while they
rebuild.