It testifies to the intensity of the tornadoes which killed at least 94 people this weekend.
A family photo, torn from a house hit by tornadoes in the United States on Friday night, has apparently traveled more than 200 km in the wind, according to an account an American posted online.
Leaving her home in New Albany, Indiana, on Saturday morning, Katie Posten had her gaze drawn to this little black and white snapshot, stuck on a window of her car.
“From the news, I understood that it was probably from a house hit by a tornado.
Otherwise, where could she come from, she said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press this Sunday morning.
It's a well-preserved photo ”.
Walked out to my car in New Albany, IN and found this picture stuck to the window.
Undoubtedly from a home that was struck by the tornado that ripped through Kentucky last night.
Hoping to find its owners.
It looks like it reads - Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell 1942 - pls RT pic.twitter.com/juoCYNAS3o
- Katie Posten (@katieposten) December 11, 2021
The image, showing a woman in a striped dress holding a child, with “Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell, 1942” on the back, has all the hallmarks of a family photo.
Katie then had the idea to post the snapshot on her Twitter and Facebook accounts, in the hope of finding its owners.
A man recognizes his great-grandparents
His message, widely shared by thousands of Internet users, allowed him to get in touch with a family in Dawson Springs, a town in the state of Kentucky partly destroyed by the force of tornadoes.
“A lot of people have shared it on Facebook.
One of the users who saw my post is friends with a man of the same last name, and he identified him under my post, ”says Katie, 30, who works for a tech company.
Indeed, a member of this family, the Swatzells, recognized the photo and identified the people on it.
" Wow.
To think she's traveled so far.
These are my father's grandparents, ”wrote Cole Swatzell on Facebook.
In Dawson Springs - a city of about 2,700 residents - homes were razed, trees smashed, and search and rescue teams continued to search the community for survivors.
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About 210 km as the crow flies (269 km by road) separate Dawson Springs and New Albany (where the photo was found), two towns located in two different states. Katie Posten has announced her intention to return the photo to the Swatzell family. “It's really remarkable, definitely one of those things, considering everything that's happened, that makes you consider how precious things are - memories, heirlooms and that sort of thing. “Said the 30-something.
This case is not, however, a first.
“In a documented case from the 1920s, debris of paper traveled 370 km from Missouri to southern Illinois.
The paper debris straddles the winds, sometimes reaching heights of 30,000 to 40,000 feet above the ground, ”said John Snow, professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, interviewed by The Associated Press.