Bettie Little found a sense of comfort in the destruction left by Saturday’s EF3 tornadic storm.

On Sunday morning, Little, her husband, Stan, and family and friends were busy picking up the pieces of what is left of their home at 4819 Highway BB, east of Highway 43 in western Newton County.

“This sounds silly, but I collect angels,” said Little, fighting back the tears. “They were on tables and walls and throughout the home, and just about every single one of those angels are OK in the house. Some of them are blown down, but they are all there. Some are busted, but none are missing.”

According to Newton County officials Sunday morning, 12 people in Newton County were confirmed dead in the wake of the EF3 tornado that hit the area at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday.

Bettie and her husband, Stan, had lived at their home for 18 years. The home is heavily damaged. The windows in the front of the house are busted. The garage of the home is a near total loss, with the front wall missing. Power lines are down in the front yard, and tree limbs litter their property along with debris and belongings from the home. Family and friends of the Little’s with the Chapter T Motorcycle Club were on hand Sunday morning to help with the cleanup.

“All of this is stuff, just stuff,” she said. “It doesn’t mean a thing.”

Little spent the majority of Saturday having a good time in Branson with her daughter and sister.

They were on their way home near Joplin when her daughter’s husband called to tell them they needed to come home as fast as they could because a tornado was coming up right behind them.

“So, we drove as fast as we could get here,” Little said. “I wanted all of us to go to the shelter, but (her daughter, Susan Havland) wanted to get to her husband. She and my sister, (Pat Ford) took off and a cop got behind them and told them to drive as fast as they could go. (Havland) said it felt like three times the van was being lifted off the ground. She drove 80 miles per hour to get home. The cop led her the whole way. It is just amazing. But, they did get home and they are OK. Everyone is OK.”

Little met her husband in the driveway of their home.

When Bettie came home as the tornado roared to the west of the home, she met her husband in the driveway and they headed straight for the cellar. Stan yelled to Bettie and said a tornado warning was issued.

“I yelled back, ‘it’s here’, and get in the cellar,’” Bettie said. “If we had been one second later, we would have been gone,” she said. “When I jumped in, it was dark. We had no lantern, which is crazy. I just jumped. I yelled, ‘Stan, get in.’ If he hadn’t jumped in, he would be gone.”

Bettie fights back the tears.

“We just barely got in the cellar,” Little said. “When the tornado started coming, we just had to pull the cellar door down to keep (the tornado) from taking (the door) and us. We finally got the bolt in it and kept it closed. We had just a few seconds.

“It is amazing the people who have stopped by to see if we are all right,” continued Little, who said she and her husband are not sure right now if they will rebuild their home at the same location. “In minutes, a cop was here. People have stopped by. It’s too much.”