Taylor Baker and Brandy Bowman, the couple’s nieces, say Paul and Gail Cline were holding hands during the storm.
“The doctors said that where they lost opposite arms is because they were, like, holding each other,” Baker said.
The couple’s home was destroyed, and they were trapped until a neighbor came looking for survivors. Fortunately, that neighbor heard Gail Cline’s cries for help.
“She said, ‘Need help. I see an arm down the hallway,’” Bowman said.
The Clines were taken to a local hospital. Gail Cline is on life support, but Paul Cline’s condition has improved.
The couple’s 12-year-old dog, Sadie, was also found alive. After hours of searching, she was found in their bedroom, waiting for someone to return.
Glass and insulation cover the walls and floors of the Cline home, indicating the horrors the couple endured while trapped inside when the twister hit.
While walking through the destruction, the couple’s nieces said they can’t imagine the fear their aunt and uncle were going through.
“All I can’t get out of my head is just how terrified that they both were,” Bowman said. “I cannot imagine the fear that was going through their minds, but there’s one thing about them – they are Godly people.”
The nieces say both of the couple’s vehicles were also destroyed. The family is starting a GoFundMe page to help cover the damage to the home and vehicles, and well as their hospital bills.
“They’re really going to need help either rebuilding or finding somewhere to live once they are stable enough,” Baker said.
Only one thing is certain, the family said: the couple is strong enough to support each other through the tragedy, just as they supported each other when the storm blew through.
The National Weather Service ruled the tornado was an EF-4 with a top wind speed of 170 miles per hour.
(Photo: Paul and Gail Cline held each other during a tornado that destroyed their home in Kentucky and left them seriously injured — WLEX, Taylor Baker, Brandy Bowman, GOFUNDME, CNN via CNN Newsource)
