Finding a needle in a haystack: Iowa family looks for precious memory in tornado wreckage

By Alyssa Gomez

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    OSCEOLA, Iowa (KCCI) — Joe and JoAnn Franksain have 75 years worth of family photos, keepsakes and priceless mementos.

It’s now all scattered across their yard after a tornado ripped through their Osceola home.

“You just want to pick stuff up and put it where it goes … but there’s no place that it goes anymore,” says Sara Robinson, Joe and JoAnn’s daughter.

The Franksains sheltered in a lower level bathroom, safe from the storm. Immediately after it passed, Sara answered a phone call from her mom.

“The house is gone,” JoAnn said.

Pieces of their home were found all over town. Shingles and insulation laid in the street miles away. The top floor of the home is almost completely destroyed.

Now all they want is to find the things that can’t be bought … like JoAnn’s grandparents’ wedding photo.

“When you go through, you realize this is what’s important, not the walls,” says Sara.

Southwest Iowa tornado: KCCI meteorologist Trey Fulbright gets video of large tornado near NeolaIowa weather: Recapping the tornadoes and other severe storms Friday Looking around at the damage, she reflects on the night of the storm and what could have happened.

“The house being destroyed would be the least of our concerns if my parents hadn’t listened when they were told to take shelter.”

Southwest Iowa tornado: KCCI meteorologist Trey Fulbright gets video of large tornado near NeolaIowa weather: Recapping the tornadoes and other severe storms Friday The Franksains have a lot of debris to dig through, but they still have one another and an army of people on their side willing to help.

The storm hit Friday night. Come Saturday morning, friends, family and even strangers lined the block outside Joe and JoAnn’s home, helping put the pieces of their lives back together.

“I didn’t realize how lucky I was that I was going to be raised in Iowa. But any time our family has had any sort of adversity, Iowans have been there for us,” says Sara.

And in digging through the drywall and dust, Sara pulls a frame from the debris.

“It’s right here.”

It’s a picture of a German immigrant couple, side by side on their wedding day. JoAnn’s grandparents.

JoAnn sighs, dusting the dirt from the frame and embraces her daughter in hug. “Thank you,” she says.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Franksains.

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