MAYFIELD, Ky. — A Virginia Beach native and her family are in the hospital after a tornado destroyed their Kentucky home.
"Both of their vehicles were completely destroyed," said Casey Hoffman, the brother-in-law of Jessica and Charles Cook. "The truck was found about a football field away from the house. It was rough."
Casey Hoffman said their home is just a small field filled with debris. Jessica, who is from Virginia Beach, her husband Charles and their four children were ripped from their homes in a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky over the weekend.
The family was found more than 100 yards away from their home.
Charles Cook spoke Good Morning America, saying it felt like a war zone.
"I remember the lightning, the power flickering, then it went off. The next thing you know, I felt suction...slipped, hit the ceiling and I woke up in the woods, looking at the sky, at a dark sky while it was raining," Cook said.
The oldest son, 9-year-old Daniel, was the first to wake up in a field after the tornado hit.
"He's the one that rummaged through the rubble and the trash and found all of his brothers and found his parents. Dude went up the street with a broken foot and found help," Hoffman said.
The family is in the hospital with various injuries. Jessica Cook has the most severe injuries. Hoffman said she and Daniel were sent to a Nashville hospital, while Charles and the other three children are in Kentucky.
Hoffman said Jessica is unconscious, dealing with a traumatic brain injury.
"My wife and her family are torn up about it," he said.
Hoffman said she is 28 weeks pregnant. Doctors had to perform an emergency C-section to deliver her baby.
"But there's been a huge, a lot of blessing," he said.
That blessing is Anna Joy. Anna weighs about two pounds and six ounces and is doing okay.
Another blessing is the help the Cook family is receiving from others. Community members started a fundraiser for the Cooks. More than $40,000 has already been raised.
"We're overwhelmed and very blessed and very thankful," Hoffman said.