Written by Maleah Holder

Dark clouds roil over Henegar, Alabama as thunder shakes the homes below. For many, it was just like any other thunderstorm on a humid spring day, but for the Hughes family, it was one to remember. 

A storm began to brew over the Southeast. Heavy rains and lightning were predicted along with flooding in several major municipalities. Tornado warnings sounded across Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, typical for thunderstorms in the area, but no one imagined how quickly those warnings would become a tornado emergency. 

April Hughes had just hit her six-week mark on her journey to recovery after a crucial surgery on her neck to remove a cancerous mass. What began as a simple mass removal ended up being the first in a streak of unfortunate twists in her and her family’s lives. As April was recovering, her husband Nathaniel patiently waited for his own surgery on his shoulder following a recent injury.