CHELSEA, IN (WAVE) - As we prepare to mark one year since tornado outbreak of March 2, 2012, we're going to visit a different town impacted by the deadly twisters. Meteorologist Christie Dutton went to Chelsea, Indiana and talked to one woman who lost three family members.
It was a spot where a two story farmhouse once stood. But on March 2, 2012 around 3:30 in the afternoon it was destroyed in seconds. Three people in that house didn't survive, but one woman did. Amanda Jackson said that day was the easy part. It's what happens now that's so hard to live through.
"It will never be normal again, but your life before March 2nd was your life before March 2nd, said Jackson. "Now you have a completely different life. Nothing is the same."
If you had to single out one person that was hit hardest by the tornado that tore through the small town of Chelsea it would be Amanda Jackson.
"This was the walkway and this was a concrete slab porch that went into the front door," said Jackson as she described the farmhouse that once stood on the now empty spot.
Not only did it rip her entire home from its foundation, it took the lives of both her grandparents.
"When I turned around," said Jackson, "my grandparents were lying face down and I knew they were gone."
The other victim was her only son, Daylynn.
"I had a hold of Daylynn," Jackson said, "and something hit me here and ripped my arm, and that's when I let go of him."
Painful are the last memories of her son. Even more painful is creating new memories without him.
"I guess reality really sets in that they're gone," said Jackson. "You know, especially Daylynn. He was only 4."
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Amanda Jackson
Photo of Amanda Jackson's grandparents (Source: Amanda Jackson)
Photo of Amanda Jackson's son, Daylynn (Source: Amanda Jackson)
Jackson looking at the site where the farmhouse once stood.
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