A hellish Texas twister packing 165-mph winds swept up a child and launched her hundreds of yards away into a tree.
Miriam Rios was found unconscious, dangling upside down from a cedar Tuesday after the vicious tornado left a 13-mile path of destruction through Central Texas.
Miraculously, the tot survived and is healing from her injuries — and was celebrating her 7th birthday Saturday in her hospital bed.
“Everyone is doing OK!” her aunt, Naomi Benavides, told the Post.
Miriam’s father, Joel Rios, mother, Vanessa, and 1-year-old brother, Ezra, were also hospitalized after the twister tossed them in different directions as it leveled their small community of Cedar Valley, near the tiny town of Salado. The family’s mobile home was flattened.
Vanessa Rios, who was about three months pregnant, miscarried on Wednesday, Benavides told KFVS-TV.
The family of four were among 23 people injured by the category EF-3 tornado. While destruction was widespread, no one died in the storm.
Miriam Rios is now celebrating her birthday in the hospital after the scary incident. KWTXThe family initially tried to drive away from the storm but turned back when hail began to fall, Vanessa’s brother, Stephen Perez, told KFVS. The twister ripped apart their home as they huddled inside, flinging each family member in a different direction.
“She was picking up…holding onto her babies as much as she could,” Benavidez said of her sister during the storm. “The little girl — she had to hold onto her by her hair. They ended up getting lifted up from the trailer and just thrown into the trees.”
The twister destroyed at least 61 homes and two churches in the community.
Rodeo worker Blake Miller was driving through the destruction just after the storm when he saw Joel Rios trapped under tree limbs and waving to get attention from passersby, he told local TV station KWTX.
“He used every last bit of his energy and strength that he had to just try to get help for his family,” Miller said. “That man was in pieces and he was still fighting for his family.”
Miller pulled over and Joel gestured toward Miriam, who was hanging from the tree, with a gash on her head.
He then found Vanessa. “That was a very disturbing sight to see,” said Miller, though he did not describe the mom’s condition.
The tornado damaged at least 61 homes in the area. KWTXA few moments later, Miller heard a noise that led him to 1-year-old Ezra, who was stuck in warped tree limbs that formed a dome around him. Miraculously, the baby had only cuts and bruises.
“I mean, I had to dig, probably three-feet into these trees and limbs that were everywhere,” Miller said. “The little baby was underneath all of it. Underneath the whole pile.”
Emergency workers arrived about a half hour later, while Miller and others who stopped to help tended to the family.
Perez set up a GoFundMe to help the family rebuild. By Saturday afternoon, over $66,700 of the $80,000 goal had been raised.
