When a tornado hits, we've all been taught to take shelter in the basement or an interior room. What's left in East Moline after last week's tornado paints a clear picture why. Knowing your home's safe place could be the difference between life and death.
Tom Reedy works to gather remaining items in his brother's home or at least what's left of it.
"I didn`t realize how my brother and sister-in-law lived through it you know, I mean there`s no roof left. There`s nothing left to it you know," said Reedy.
Tom gave us a tour of the home that used to have a roof and walls.
"It's amazing what things gave and what things didn`t," said Reedy.
The destruction serves as a reminder to take shelter in the safe places of a home. The bathroom and interior walls still stand. The basement wasn't even touched, glass collectibles still stand on shelves, fully intact.
"We always recommend we tell people to get as low as you can and inside as far as you can and put as many walls between you and the outside as possible," said Donna Dubberke, a warning coordinator meteorologist from the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.
Dubberke says the first point of failure is the roof, from there the storm works its way from the outside to the inside.
"Those interior rooms they`re towards the middle, but if they`re small too they`re just stronger structurally. It takes more to collapse those walls," said Dubberke.
Dubberke says along with interior walls and a basement, closets and bathrooms are also good places to take shelter.