Mississippi restaurant workers survived a violent twister that killed 26 people by hiding in a walk-in refrigerator

Eight people are alive, thanks to the quick-thinking owner of Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, who dumped the group into a walk-in cooler as a monster tornado swept through Mississippi, leaving a trail of devastating destruction in its wake.

Moments later, all that remained of the diner that had been a mainstay in the community for more than 60 years was this cooler.

“It’s more than a business, it’s my community,” owner Tracy Harden, 48, told Good Morning America (GMA) while fighting back tears. “And thank God we’re alive, but we’re also so devastated by the loss.”

Eight people survived the storm by huddled in the diner’s massive refrigerator as the building collapsed around them.

But outside was a different story. At least 26 people have died from the hurricanes that tore through Mississippi Friday night and thousands have been displaced.

Tracy Harden, 48, owner of Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, dumped her employees into a walk-in cooler, saving their lives Friday night as a tornado swept through the area. Pictured: The walk-in cooler stands alone among the rubble

A pickup truck sits atop the wreck of Chuck’s Dairy Bar. All that was left of the diner was this walk-in cooler and a sturdy pool table. Pictured: A truck on the rubble

Harden (center) and two of her employees Barbara Pinkens and Carolyn Washington comfort each other after surviving the tornado that devastated the area on Friday

“The whole trailer park behind us is gone,” Harden said. “We don’t know where everyone is. We don’t know who’s alive and who’s gone.’

The tornadoes swept through Mississippi and neighboring Alabama Friday night, leaving a more than 100-mile trail of destruction across the state.

Harden said they only issued a warning about a minute before the tornado.

“I got 22 text messages in a row from my sister and my daughter in Vicksburg and they both said, uh, it was just, there’s a tornado, go somewhere safe,” Harden told GMA.

“And at the same time my teenage cashier came running to the back of the building and said my mum was on the phone and she said there was a tornado and by that time most of us were at the back of the building.

She continued, “And the lights were flickering and I just yelled ‘radiator,’ and my husband opened the radiator door and started pushing us inside.”

Harden, her husband Tim and their six employees are hiding in the cooler.

Just before Harden’s man closed the refrigerator door, he looked out and saw that the restaurant’s roof was gone and he could see the sky.

“He looked up and said, ‘I see the sky,’ and that let us know that this was way worse than anything we could have imagined and the roof was gone.”

All eight people survived and were able to climb out of the rubble when one of the employees cleared a path through the rubble.

Tracy Harden, center, who owns Chuck’s Dairy Bar with her husband Tim, comforts a neighbor in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on Saturday. The couple and their six employees were hiding in the cooler when the tornado hit

From right, Harden and husband Tim, owners of Chuck’s Dairy Bar, watch the tornado destroy their business in Rolling Fork

BEFORE THE STORM: Chuck’s Dairy Bar has been a mainstay in the community for over 60 years

AFTER THE STORM: Chuck’s Dairy Bar is now a pile of rubble

The walk-in cool box where real people sought shelter and survived

Harden and her husband have owned the diner for 16 years, but it’s been a staple of the community for more than six decades.

But within minutes the beloved diner had been left in ruins. The walk-in cooler, a sturdy pool table, and a bathroom — in which one other person survived — were all that remained.

Carolyn Washington, the woman who survived by hiding in the bathroom, also spoke about her harrowing experience.

“I looked up, it was a truck that had landed on top of the bathroom,” she told GMA.

So I panicked a bit and found my way out and I yelled for help and someone came over to help me uh get out and Tracy can you give us?

Harden and her husband have owned the diner for 16 years, but it’s been a staple of the community for more than six decades

The pool table pictured in the diner before it was destroyed remained standing after the storm

Patrons gather at Chuck’s Dairy Bar, which has since been destroyed by Friday’s tornado

The tornadoes swept through Mississippi and neighboring Alabama Friday night, leaving a more than 100-mile trail of destruction across the state. At least 25 people have died in Mississippi, with one more person confirmed dead in Alabama.

Among the victims were a three-year-old girl and her father, who died after a tornado hit their home in Wren, Mississippi. In Rolling Fork, one of Mississippi’s worst-hit cities, a couple died in each other’s arms when the tornado dropped their neighbor’s 18-wheeler on their home in the middle of the night.

After President Joe Biden released disaster relief, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents of Mississippi and neighboring Alabama through Monday of possible new “supercell thunderstorms” that “could produce a few strong tornadoes and very large hail.”

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves warned Sunday that the risks appear to be “getting worse, not better,” according to Sky News. He added that there are “significant risks” for those living south of Interstate 55, the South’s longest freeway.

Search and rescue workers surveyed the damage to destroyed homes, collapsed buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all but wiped out by nature’s wrath.

Melissa and Lonnie Pierce “died in each other’s arms” when an 18-wheel vehicle was thrown at their home by the tornado, their son told local news

In Wren, Mississippi, a young family is heartbroken after the tragic loss of Ethan Herndon, 33, and baby Riley Herndon (center), who was just one year old

The NWS rated Friday’s tornado a four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale with violent winds up to 200 miles per hour and classified it as “violent.”

Dozens of people were also injured, and officials say the death toll could rise.

Under warm spring sunshine and cloudless blue skies, stunned residents walked among destroyed homes, sifting through debris and comforting one another while crews fought fires, conducted searches and cleared escape routes.

Before-and-after satellite imagery released late Sunday showed complete devastation in parts of Rolling Fork, with homes destroyed and trees uprooted.

Hours after the storm devastated much of the city, the American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork, home to around 2,000 people.

One area was set up as an infirmary, and boxes full of food and medical supplies were brought in to help storm victims who lost everything, said John Brown, a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi.

Anna Krisuta, 43, and her 16-year-old son Alvaro Llecha took shelter at the site and said their home was in ruins.

The storm also left a man in Alabama dead when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said.

Officials, including US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, gathered in Rolling Fork on Sunday afternoon, praising the rescue effort and pledged support “in the long run.”

“It’s heartbreaking to hear about the loss of life and to see the devastation firsthand,” Mayorkas said at a news conference with Gov. Tate Reeves and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Deanne Criswell.