As storm chaser Ashton Lemley made his way through a tornado-ravaged trailer park in Mississippi, he heard the unmistakable meow of kittens piercing the predawn darkness.
The houses had been flattened just hours before The storms spawned at least three tornadoes across the lower half of Mississippi, infecting dozens at a trailer park in the rural community of Bogue Chitto.
Lemley had no idea where the cat was, but he was determined to find it. After a few minutes, the meowing stopped, and Lemley feared the worst.
Five minutes later he heard it again.
“I said, ‘Oh, he’s still alive!’” Lemley told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Lemley quickly dug under the insulation of a flat wall until the beam of a flashlight found the kitten—wet, frightened, and hiding between two wooden posts.
Lemley recorded this moment on video: “Oh my God, I found him!” He says to the camera. “Are you okay? Come here – it’s okay…. We’ll clean you up, baby. Don’t worry.”
Lemley held the cat in his arms for a few minutes before handing her over to the commander of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer disaster response group, who dried her off and took her to safety. Lemley marveled that he didn’t appear to be injured.
“I’ve been in these situations many times,” said Lemley, who has been chasing storms since 2010. “I’m not trying to be overly emotional. But it’s very heartbreaking to see any type of animal or human go through something like this.”
Lemley says there is already a lot of interest from people who want to adopt the cat if the owners have not been located. He said some people want to call it a tornado.
However, he won’t be coming home with him: Lemley is allergic to cats.