SHELBY, Iowa (KMTV) — Two years after a tornado destroyed their home and outbuildings just outside Shelby, Sadie and Sean Yochum are still rebuilding.
"Then it was just a big whoosh and it was all gone," Sadie told KMTV, roughly an hour after a tornado ripped apart a machine shed and parts of her house.
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The couple knew the storm was coming before it wiped out their property.
"It was just like this huge, gray funnel," Sadie said.
The damage was so severe that storm chasers and neighbors rushed to help the family.
Despite the chaos in the aftermath of the Arbor Day storms, Sadie says there were bright spots. For one thing, they've grown closer to neighbors they barely knew.
"A lot of people weren’t people that we talked to every day, or anything like that, they just showed up to help," Sadie said.
Someone else showed up after the tornado, too.
"We thought that, the tornado, we were done having kids," she said.
The couple learned about baby number four, Maverick, when they were living in a camper next to their ruined home. That means Sadie was living in in that camper — with her husband and three kids — while she was pregnant.
"Yes. I did. It was very stressful," she said.
Navigating the world of insurance and contractors has been frustrating. However, baby Maverick is the family's ray of sunshine after the storm.
"He brought us so much joy in such a dark time, that I kind of feel like he was just meant to be here for a good reason."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
