On May 16, as an EF3 tornado roared across north St. Louis, 81-year-old Ernest Curry pulled his pickup truck in front of his home on Newstead Avenue. He looked down the street and saw the tornado coming straight at him.

“I ran to my front door, got it open, shut it behind me and tried to make it into the basement," he said. "Before I could, it hit the side window — sounded like an atom bomb. I just doubled up on the floor and let it pass.”

This story was commissioned by the River City Journalism Fund, which seeks to advance local journalism in St. Louis. See rcjf.org for more info.

He demonstrates how he dropped to his knees and hands in the hallway. “If I hadn’t got down like that, I’d have caught all that glass when the windows blew out," he added. "It missed me.”

The storm rip

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