Pleasant Hill tornado survivors begin to put the pieces back together

IN PLEASANT HILL. FAMILIES ARE STILL PICKING UP DEBRIS AND TRYING TO PIECE THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER AFTER AN EF TWO TORNADO RIPPED THROUGH THEIR SUBURB FRIDAY NIGHT, A NEIGHBORHOOD JUST SOUTHEAST OF SLEEPY HOLLOW WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST HIT AREAS. KCCI BEAU BOWMAN IS THERE TONIGHT AS THE CLEANUP CONTINUES. YOU CAN SEE ALL THE TARPS THAT ARE ACTING AS ROOFS IN THIS PLEASANT HILL NEIGHBORHOOD. WE SPOKE WITH THE FAMILY WHO RENTS THIS HOUSE HERE. THEY TOLD US THE STORY OF THE HORRIFYING MOMENT WHEN THE STORM TOOK THEIR HOME AND ALMOST TOOK THEIR LIVES IN THIS LITTLE BATHROOM RIGHT HERE. THIS IS WHERE DARRYL DEPEW HID WITH HIS FIANCE, DAUGHTER AND GRANDBABY AS THE EF TWO TORNADO RIPPED THROUGH THEIR HOUSE, FINDING THEIR SAFE SPACE JUST MOMENTS BEFORE THE STORM MADE A DIRECT HIT. I'M HOLDING THE DOOR CLOSED, WHICH IS PEOPLE SAY IT AIN'T GOING TO WORK, BUT JUST NATURAL INSTINCT. I'M TRYING TO HOLD THE DOOR BECAUSE IT'S SHAKING AND YOU HEAR SOMETHING BOOM. THE WINDS AND SHAKING AND EVERYTHING JUST SHAKING. THAT'S ALL I CAN. THAT'S ALL THAT JUST KEEPS PLAYING IN MY HEAD. WHEN THEY EMERGED, THEY SAW WHAT WAS LEFT. THE ROOF WAS GONE. SO THIS IS BASICALLY OUR LIVING ROOM. INSULATION NOW COVERS MOST OF THEIR BELONGINGS. THE BACK DOOR BLOWN OFF, STRONG WINDS TOSSED THEIR WASHER AND DRYER DOWN THE HALLWAY. THEY RAN THROUGH ON THEIR WAY TO SAFETY. SO GOOD THING MY DAUGHTER MADE IT DOWN JUST IN TIME BECAUSE THIS WOULD HAVE KILLED HER IN THE NEW MOON. AND WE PRAY TO GOD WE JUST MADE IT OUT THERE THANKS TO OUR ALIVE AND GOD, WE MADE IT OUT. THIS PLACE I WAS HORRIFYING. A BLUE TARP LAYING OVER THE FRAME IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING THEIR HOUSE DRY. AS THE NEXT ROUND OF STORMS STARTS TO ROLL IN, THE ITEMS HE LEFT IN HIS GARAGE ARE EITHER RUINED OR MISSING, AS HALF OF IT WAS BLOWN AWAY IN THE WIND. THIS ONE WAS TOTALLY GONE. EVERYTHING ON THE ROOFS WAS ALL ON TOP OF THE OTHER CAR THAT TOTALLY TOLD US THIS CAR. YOU SEE, IT'S TOTAL TO COMING OUT OF THE LAST STORM UNBELIEVABLY UNSCATHED. DEPEW SAYS HE NEVER WANTS TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN. HE'S JUST THANKFUL HIS FAMILY IS ALL STILL ALIVE. YOU CAN'T CONTROL THAT, BUT I. I STILL GOT ME HERE UNTOUCHED. THAT'S THE BEAUTIFUL THING TO THAT DEBUT SAYS HIS FAMILY IS STAYING WITH RELATIVES UNTIL THEY FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO NEXT. THE CITY OF PLEASANT HILL IS ASKING PEOPLE TO BE PATIENT. IT WILL TAKE WEEKS TO CLEAN UP THIS DEBRIS. THEY ARE ASKING PEOPLE TO SEPARATE TREE LIMBS AND VEGETATION FROM OTHER TYPES OF DEBRIS TO HELP SPEED UP THE PROCESS. IN PLEASANT HILL, BEAU BOWMAN KCCI EIGHT NEWS, IOWA'S NEWS LEADER. AND WE'RE CERTAINLY THINKING ABOUT THESE FOLKS. WE KNOW A LOT OF YOU ARE, AS WELL. KCCI IS RAISING MONEY FOR THE RED CROSS. JUST GO TO KCCI DOT COM SLASH RED CROSS IF YOU'D LI

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Pleasant Hill tornado survivors begin to put the pieces back together

Families are still picking up debris and trying to piece their lives back together after an EF-2 tornado ripped through Pleasant Hill Friday night.Darryl Deboue hid with his fiancée, daughter and grandbaby in their downstairs bathroom as the storm moved right through their house, knocking the drywall off the walls, pushing their washer and dryer through the hallway and up the stairs, and blowing the roof off the home. "Praise to God we just made it out there, thanks for our lives, praise god we made it out of this place," Deboue said.Now, a blue tarp attached over the frame is the only thing keeping their house dry as the next round of storms starts to roll in Tuesday night. The items Deboue left in his garage are either ruined or missing, as half of it was blown away in the wind.Deboue says he never wants to go through it again. He's just thankful his family is all alive."You just can't control that. But our Lord still got me here — untouched — that's the beautifulest thing today," he said.WATCH: Oakwood Cemetery hit hard by tornado, many headstones damagedRelated stories

PLEASANT HILL, Iowa —

Families are still picking up debris and trying to piece their lives back together after an EF-2 tornado ripped through Pleasant Hill Friday night.

Darryl Deboue hid with his fiancée, daughter and grandbaby in their downstairs bathroom as the storm moved right through their house, knocking the drywall off the walls, pushing their washer and dryer through the hallway and up the stairs, and blowing the roof off the home.

"Praise to God we just made it out there, thanks for our lives, praise god we made it out of this place," Deboue said.

Now, a blue tarp attached over the frame is the only thing keeping their house dry as the next round of storms starts to roll in Tuesday night. The items Deboue left in his garage are either ruined or missing, as half of it was blown away in the wind.

Deboue says he never wants to go through it again. He's just thankful his family is all alive.

"You just can't control that. But our Lord still got me here — untouched — that's the beautifulest thing today," he said.

WATCH: Oakwood Cemetery hit hard by tornado, many headstones damaged

Related stories