ST. LOUIS – Many storm victims are living in shelters across the St. Louis area after the May 16 tornado. 

However, one woman said she doesn’t want to leave what she has left. 

“This is my home, like the back part of my home,” Gwen Hudgins said. “My son was in the back of the house when the tornado hit and he was running to the front where I was and by the time he got to the front, the whole house had collapsed.”

Hudgins said the tornado lifted them and hurled them through the wall. They ended up in the lot next door to her home. 

“I thought I was dead. I thought it was over with. We got up and I knew, okay, we still got life in us,” Hudgins said. 

Forty years of memories were gone in a matter of seconds. 

“This is where we’re staying now, in tents. It is a total wipeout,” Hudgins said. 

She is currently relying on the kindness of strangers. 

Neighbors and nonprofits are checking on her throughout the day, including a group of construction workers. 

“They are the ones that gave me the potty because they’ve got four of them sitting down in the street and they came and they took one of theirs and brought it down here to me,” Hudgins said. 

An animal shelter is watching her two dogs for a few days. Hudgins said what she really needs is housing and help rebuilding her home. 

“I raised my son, and my son was born in this here house. My husband passed in this here house. So, it is a lot of memories here. I got a lot of memories in there that I’ve got to get,” Hudgins said.