FedEx worker: 'God saved me' as twister spun above her last week

PAINCOURTVILLE - Stories of survival continue to be told nearly a week after twisters tore through south Louisiana.

Monday, video of a woman's desperate attempt to run for cover shows just how scary the weather was last week. The video is a recording of security camera footage at Sagona's True Value Hardware in Assumption Parish. It shows the powerful twister move through the town and Kyra Johnson looking for a place to stay safe.

"I could have been blown, ripped away.. but nothing, nothing touched me," Johnson said.

Johnson, a delivery driver for FedEx wedged herself between the outside wall of the store and a soda machine but eventually the soda machine fell to the ground.

"I just said God what do I do what do I do, so I grabbed onto the door and that's where I was standing until it finally stopped," Johsnon said as she describes how she positioned herself to survive.

In the video, you can see her first trying to get into the store, but the doors were locked, so she darts under the camera just as the building starts falling apart. It was under the camera where she braced herself.

It was an emotional moment on Monday as many of the workers of the shop greeted Johnson with hugs after seeing the video.



"There's nothing else that I can say about it," Johnson said to New 2. "Thank God I'm here."

The store owner, David Sagona, posted the video to his Facebook page this weekend.

"Kyra, you definitely had an angel looking over you," he wrote when he shared the security footage.

"God saved me. I called to him to save me the whole time the tornado was over us and ( He ) heard my cry. I am not a religious person but I do believe in him to the fullest and that's what saved me," she posted in the social media thread about the video. "Thank God he is Real. Please share."

Watch afternoon editions of WBRZ News 2 for more on the video and the survival story.

Sagona was inside when the tornado hit. He describes the moments after noticing Johnson surviving the tornado.



"She was trying to check on the employees to make sure they were ok, so I told her look Miss Johnson you need to make sure your ok," Sagona said. "You rode this outside. I'm just lucky you alive."

Astonishing video that could have shown the last moments of Johnson's life, but she told News 2 that this video is a testimony that her purpose in life continues.



"I'm an average person like everybody else, I sin like everybody else but this is just something different that I feel God has put on me where I can share with people that just think well if you don't want to listen to what the preacher has to say...here's what I have to say he is real," said Johnson."He was there for me when I asked him to help me and he saved me."



Johnson said she's been working for Fedex for a year and was only filling in that area as a routine driver.

The National Weather Service determined last week, the tornado was an EF3.

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