Natural disasters are fearsome and deadly, but the stories of survival afterward are often incredible and heartwarming. Rescues sometimes made by chance while living through a terrifying ordeal can be miraculous.
These four amazing true stories of survival reveal how seemingly certain death can turn into heroic life-saving outcomes after natural disasters.
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• The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado in 1999 was among the deadliest in Oklahoma with 302-mile-per-hour winds along 38 miles. It killed 36 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Deputy Robert Jolley was on a search-and-rescue mission when he discovered curly brown hair sticking out from a layer of mud. He dug frantically and pulled out 11-month-old Aleah Crago. She had been ripped from her mother’s arms by the tornado and ended up 100 feet from her home. Jolley drove her to a makeshift hospital about 45 minutes away. Aleah miraculously survived.
• Viral Dalal, 24, was a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and visiting his family in Gujarat, India, when an earthquake collapsed their home in 2001. Five days later, someone heard a voice from underneath the rubble and rescuers rushed to the scene. Dalal was slowly pulled out and reportedly didn’t have a scratch on him.
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• A tremendous wave from the 2004 tsunami smashed into the Queen of the Sea in Sri Lanka, flooding all cars and throwing them off the tracks. Daya Wijaya Gunawardana, a restaurateur, was in a coach that was turned over four times. He was trapped inside the car for nearly an hour while passengers tried desperately to get out. He managed to squeeze through a window and was reunited with his two adult children as they fled uphill.
• The Uruguayan airplane crash into the Andes in 1972 was one of the most remarkable stories of survival through man-made and natural disasters. The plane carried 45 passengers, including members of a rugby team. There were 27 survivors after the crash, according to Alpine Expeditions. An avalanche killed eight more people and filled the plane with snow. The survivors spent 72 days struggling in the hostile environment. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa decided to climb through the hazardous Andes mountains after two months, taking 10 days to finally reach civilization and bring back rescuers. Sixteen people survived the horrifying ordeal.
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