AUSTIN, Texas — A Round Rock woman is thankful to be alive after being pulled from underneath her home when it was hit by Monday's tornado.
Samantha Arevalo couldn't believe her home was gone within seconds.
"The rest of the lights were on and then they went off and then I heard the wind," said Arevalo. "Then I quickly grabbed everything off the bed and dragged the mattress into the bathroom."
That's when the tornado ripped through Arevalo's home as well as her next-door neighbor's home.
"It sounded like a bunch of glass shattering," said Arevalo.
Arevalo said that, after a few seconds, it was silent. She said she nervously waited for 25 minutes until help arrived.
"I started hearing people yelling, 'Is anybody in there?' And I kept yelling, 'Yes,' but I think my voice is too soft," said Arevalo. "I think they heard me when he came and he saw me being pulled out by some men."
She was pulled out by "some men" who were her neighbors, but they're now her rescuers. Arevalo made it out without a scratch.
"Where I am from, you either get helped or you don't, but since moving to Texas, I realize everyone helps each other here," said Arevalo, who just moved from California.
Arevalo said she was renting the home and plans to stay with family in the meantime.
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