HOWARD COUNTY, Ind. — A Howard County school bus driver got help from some familiar faces as he cleans up after a tornado damaged his house.
Chris Sellers was inside his mobile home when the EF1 tornado touched down in the eastern part of the county March 31. He told our partners at the Kokomo Tribune the storm lasted about 90 seconds and when it was over, he was on the ground outside of his trailer, thrown 20 feet.
He was the only person injured by the tornado, which carried winds of 110 mph, and needed eight staples.
"Doctors couldn't believe I didn't have any broken bones," he told the newspaper.
The damage to his property was extensive, with multiple barns destroyed, a pickup truck flipped over and debris everywhere. His mobile home was reduced to a twisted metal frame.
But the damage to the bus he drives for Taylor Community Schools was minimal - just a few broken lights and mirrors.
Thursday afternoon, Taylor High School sent students out into the community to help residents clean up. Several of the children who came to Sellers' home - all volunteers - had ridden his school bus during his 29 years with the district.
"We've got a great group of kids," transportation director Tony Oliver told the Tribune. "They didn't do this just to get out of class, you can tell."
"I feel very lucky to have a community that feels that way," Sellers said as he handed out trash bags to the students.
His barns will be torn down, but most of the animals on Sellers' property - goats, cows, chickens, dogs, cats and ducks - survived the storm. Only a few fowl were killed, the Tribune reported.
He plans to be back in the driver's seat Monday, taking some of the same students who helped him recover from the storm back to school.