Melisa Swearingen woke up early on Sunday morning as a tornado bore down on her home in the northwestern corner of Arkansas. As she raced down the stairs with her toddler, she looked out the window and saw a 40-foot tree falling toward the house. “The whole house was shaking like a roller coaster,” Ms. Swearingen said in an interview outside her home. “I thought the house would be torn open and we’d get suctioned up,” Ms. Swearingen, 35, said. Nearby, Byron Copeland, 38, had sent his wife, their three children and the family dogs to the basement, while he monitored the storm.

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Persons: Melisa Swearingen, Ms, Swearingen, ” Ms, Byron Copeland, ” Mr, Copeland, ” Locations: Arkansas