As organizations shift to long-term recovery following Kentucky tornadoes, many in Western Kentucky are bracing for the long-term impact of trauma to settle across communities.
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Inside a church in downtown Dawson Springs that’s temporarily acting as a food and supply distribution center, Toskia Adamson unfurled a crumpled envelope.
Inside were 13 pictures, some frayed on the edges, but all in pretty good condition. Toskia, 39, who’s lived in Dawson Springs most of her life, remembers when most of them were taken. Some show her late father, Bert and her still-living mom, Geneva. Others show Toskia’s children, including 20-year-old Skyler Lohse as an infant and a toddler.
Toskia Adamson holds a photograph of her dad, Bert Adamson, and her son, Skyler Lohse, that was lost when a tornado destroyed her mother’s home in Dawson Springs, Ky., on Dec. 10, 2021, during the historic quad-state tornadoes that scoured a path of destruction nearly 200 miles. Adamson was able to recover some photos that had been blown across state lines through a Facebook group dedicated to helping reunite tornado victims with lost items. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
On December 10, an EF-4 tornado spiraled through her town, demolishing 75% of the town’s homes, including Skyler’s and Geneva’s trailers on the north side of town. When the twister sucked them both up into the sky before dropping them on piles of rubble, these photos were rocketed into the upper layer of the troposphere. The force of that tornado lofted debris roughly 30,000 feet — almost six miles into the sky.
There, the photos rode wind currents hundreds of miles across the state before being deposited in people’s yards like leaves falling from trees. Toskia thought the pictures were gone forever, until strangers across Kentucky, Indiana, and as far away as North Carolina began posting pictures of the weathered photos on the Quad State Tornado Found Items Facebook group, which has nearly 87,000 members.
In the nearly three months since the storms, as she continues to help her mom and son get back on their feet, apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, and find permanent housing, Toskia has also, piece by piece, recovered her mom’s only surviving keepsakes that weren’t destroyed by the storms.
Many of the shots were snapped inside Geneva’s trailer. One showed her late husband Bert, tan and shirtless, sitting on a bed next to his grandson, Skyler, who looks to be around 6. Another showed Geneva as a young woman, with a dog and Skyler, a toddler, on her lap. Another is of Toskia’s late sister.
Toskia Adamson holds a photograph of her mom, Geneva Adamson, and her son, Skyler Lohse, that was lost when a tornado destroyed her mother’s home in Dawson Springs, Ky., on Dec. 10, 2021, during the historic quad-state tornadoes that scoured a path of destruction nearly 200 miles. Adamson was able to recover some photos that had been blown across state lines through a Facebook group dedicated to helping reunite tornado victims with lost items. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
On January 10, a woman in Payneville, 125 miles away from Dawson Springs, posted a found photo in the Facebook group that shocked Toskia, who recognized it instantly. It was taken in 2016 in Geneva’s trailer. Toskia and her older brother, Larry, are sitting on either side of their father, Bert. who’s lying on his back in a bed, his eyes closed. He was dying of cancer, and this picture was taken in his final hours.
“This belongs to me, my heart just sunk. That’s my sweet daddy before he took his last breath,” Toskia wrote under the picture, which she now held. She’d just gotten it in the mail the day before. “When I opened that picture yesterday, I was in tears, again. It looks amazing,” she said.
The photo, and Toskia’s response, were shared hundreds of times. One man wrote, “Hun, I think your daddy telling you he’s still watching over. I would be in tears, too. So glad you seen this!!”
Toskia Adamson holds a photograph of herself, left, her late dad, Bert Adamson, and her older brother, Larry Adamson, that was lost when a tornado destroyed her mother’s home in Dawson Springs, Ky., on Dec. 10, 2021, during the historic quad-state tornadoes that scoured a path of destruction nearly 200 miles. Adamson was able to recover some photos that had been blown across state lines through a Facebook group dedicated to helping reunite tornado victims with lost items. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
Her mom, who was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, doesn’t yet know that these pictures exist. Even the smallest mention of the tornado can summon flashbacks.
“She’s not stable enough to take those emotions in,” Toskia said.
But some day soon, when her mom is stronger, she’ll show her the pictures. And Toskia hopes she’ll remember that life existed before the tornado, and life will go on after it.
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
Alex Acquisto covers state politics and health for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. She joined the newspaper in June 2019 as a corps member with Report for America, a national service program made possible in Kentucky with support from the Blue Grass Community Foundation. She’s from Owensboro, Ky., and previously worked at the Bangor Daily News and other newspapers in Maine.Support my work with a digital subscription
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As organizations shift to long-term recovery following Kentucky tornadoes, many in Western Kentucky are bracing for the long-term impact of trauma to settle across communities.
