Bella Found!

From Lexington Herald Leader:

“Dog that vanished after saving Tennessee family from tornado found alive 54 days”

A beloved dog that vanished when a tornado destroyed a Tennessee family’s home has been found alive after a two-month search, hiding in an alley 5 miles away, according to its owners Eric and Faith Johnson of Cookeville. The couple posted news of Bella’s rescue Sunday on Facebook, noting she was seen on surveillance cameras in a grocery store parking lot. Eric Johnson told McClatchy News the dog is the reason his family is alive, because Bella woke him up as the storm approached on March 3. “To say that I wasn’t starting to lose hope in ever finding her again would be a lie,” he posted on Facebook. “Me and my wife would pray daily that God was keeping her safe out there until he brought her home to us. Well today those prayers came true, at around 6 p.m. this evening we were able to catch Bella... At the moment, our miracle dog has a full belly of food and is currently sleeping in a warm bed where she belongs.”

Cookeville was heavily damaged March 3 when a “supercell” thunderstorm spawned numerous tornadoes in southern Kentucky, Tennessee and central Alabama, according to the National Weather Service. “The worst of these tornadoes touched down across Middle Tennessee during the early morning hours of March 3, 2020, resulting in widespread damage, hundreds of injuries and 25 fatalities,” the NWS reported later. Eric Johnson says the storm reached his home about 2 a.m., and their first hint of danger was at 1:15 a.m. when Bella “crawled under our bed and started whining.” That prompted their other dog, Scooter, to start barking, he said. “I wake up, turn the TV on and see Nashville got hit hard by a tornado and the storm was headed towards Cookeville. For some reason, I got up and stayed awake,” he wrote on Facebook. “I knew something was not right. I grabbed my children and wife (and) put them in the tub on the other side of our house. I remember looking at my wife and saying I will be right back. ... I ran across our house to try to get our dog and as I approached our bedroom I could hear homes exploding.” Johnson says he made it to the tub as the storm hit, and the force of the wind leveled their home and threw the tub 50 yards across the backyard. It broke it in half, scattering the family, he wrote on Facebook. He says he suffered cuts to the head and his wife broke some ribs, but their children only had scratches, he wrote. “Scooter was on top of the bed that morning as he always was every day of his life,” Johnson told McClatchy News. “Scooter died when our house was leveled. Bella was saved, I believe because she was under our heavy bed when it threw all of us into our back yard.”

^ This is both a happy and a sad story. It’s sad because Scooter died saving his family. It’s happy because Bella lived and was found even after 54 days. ^

https://www.kentucky.com/news/nation-world/national/article242337956.html