A storm chaser is sharing how he miraculously saved a family following a deadly tornado in Mississippi last week.
Jonny Gabel, a 35-year-old Chicago area carpenter who has been chasing storms for the past five years, helped rescue the Jones family after an EF4 destroyed her home in Rolling Fork. He told People magazine that he helped them out of the rubble, and now he wants to help them build a new house.
“I want to build them a new house. I’ve been building houses my whole life, and this is my calling. This is how I can make an even bigger difference in this world,” Gabel said. “They’ve been saying I’m an angel.”
Gabel also launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds to secure the Joneses a new home.
“Their home is completely destroyed,” he wrote on the online fundraiser. “100% of the funds will be used to help them or help other victims affected by tornados. The funds will be used to build them a new house (if insurance doesn’t cover it, or if there’s some sort of financial obstacle) or the funds will be used to get them into a new home as soon as possible.”
Noting that many people were killed by the tornado, Gabel highlighted how miraculous it was that the entire Jones family survived “without injury.”
“I just said, ‘Thank God you all survived. This is kind of a miracle,’” Gabel said. “Because just a hundred yards away, the Dollar General was just completely destroyed.”
As Christian Headlines previously reported, a series of deadly tornadoes struck Mississippi and Alabama last week. Christian humanitarian organizations Operation Blessing and Samaritan’s Purse responded to the disaster by deploying relief teams in both states.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for federal aid toward Mississippi’s relief efforts.
As of Tuesday, Gabel’s GoFundMe raised nearly $5,000 of its $50,000 goal.
Related:
TV Meteorologist Prays On-Air as Tornado Slams Town: ‘Dear Jesus, Please Be with Them’
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Scott Olson/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.