Erin Stevenson was just 60 miles from home when everything turned black Saturday evening in Canton, Texas.

As she drove west on Interstate 20, returning to Dallas from a friend's baby shower in Shreveport, Louisiana, Stevenson was on the phone with her boyfriend, Zach, when she noticed the weather quickly took an ominous turn. As she mentioned the darkening skies, Zach informed her the county through which she was driving was under a tornado warning.

She didn't know an EF3 tornado was just miles away, destroying parts of the town.

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Stevenson admitted she began to panic, stuck in an unfamiliar town with no idea where to go. She left the freeway on Exit 528 and stopped at the first building she saw off the exit – I-20 Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. The building was under construction for a planned expansion, and there were a few dozen vehicles for sale in the parking lot. In a matter of minutes, many of those cars would be pulverized and sent flying onto I-20.

"I headed toward the dealership thinking it was a gas station. I was so scared and didn't know what to do, but I saw the headlights of the other car that survived the tornado with me," Stevenson told weather.com. "Their headlights were like a beacon and they may have saved my life. I pulled in right behind the other car before wedging myself between the heavy scissor lift and the wall."

Knowing her only chance to survive would be if the car stayed on the ground, Stevenson got as low to the floor of her Honda Civic as she could and stayed on the phone with Zach. As she repeatedly yelled "I love you" into the phone, debris flew through the car and just above her head. The decision to get onto the floor of the vehicle saved her life.

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Following a few moments of terror, the tornado moved northeast, and in the driver's seat of her vehicle, Stevenson peeled debris off her arms and legs, completely uninjured, much like everyone else who sheltered under the unfinished overhang of the ravaged dealership.

Storm chasers quickly arrived to help Stevenson and others out of their vehicles. Stevenson and the couple whose car guided her to safety hitched a ride to Dallas with three pilots who arrived after the storm and convinced them to get out of harm's way with several other tornadoes bearing down on Canton – another decision she says might have saved her life.

Stevenson said she has kept in close contact with the owners of the dealership, and because her car was destroyed in the tornado, she might be back soon to do a little business.

"I'm so thankful for the shelter from the storm and so sorry for the big hit to their business," she said. "Now I'm just hoping they can hook me up with a nice 'hail sale' vehicle to replace my car."

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