Concrete Room Saves Mississippi Family of 4 From Tornado That Leveled Their Home

Amber and Andrew Phillips were watching an online Easter service when they started tracking the weather on Sunday morning.

As one of 80 tornadoes that pummeled the South that day approached their home in rural Moss, Mississippi, Andrew instructed her to grab their two children—ages 2 and 6 months—and get into the safe room.

He told the Associated Press that he saw the funnel cloud outside, and then grabbed pillows from the bedroom before rushing back to shield his family in the small room built from concrete blocks that doubles as a closet.

“I was in there about 20 seconds when it hit,” Andrew, a volunteer firefighter, recalled. “The house is gone, everything but the safe room.”

Miraculously, all four members of the Phillips family survived the storm without a scratch. And it’s all thanks to a tiny concrete space and their quick thinking. Andrew told the AP that they had only been living in the house for a few weeks. The safe room, he said, was one of the reasons he bought it.

WATCH: Tornadoes Are Deadlier in the South, and Experts Say They’re Getting Worse

Though their house and meat-processing business next door were totaled, Andrew remains positive.

“I’m just going to let the insurance handle it and trust in the good Lord,” he told the AP. “We’re going to try to come back bigger and better.”