Woman hurt during tornado dies from injuries as survivors clean up in aftermath

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — As crews continue to cleanup from last week's devastating tornado, a Bartow County woman injured during that tornado died on Monday morning, according to family members.

A tree crushed Brenda Mulkey while she was in the kitchen of her Adairsville home.

"Those three pine trees right there fell on top of her, they fell right across the trailer," her husband Stanley Branton showed Channel 2's Rachel Stockman.

Branton said after the tornado hit on Wednesday, the situation was so hectic; it took awhile before emergency crew came to transport her to the hospital

"The tree fell on her head and crushed three disks in her back and she said it crushed her back bone into her tail bone," said neighbor Amanda Payne, who was a close friend of Mulkey's.

According to doctors, she also suffered a concussion during the incident.

Mulkey's husband said she died next to him, at a mobile home they had rented, because their home was destroyed.

"(She was) sitting on the porch for two hours, in the cold rain. I think that just took it out of her," said Branton.

Mulkey had several ongoing medical issues that he believes were made worse by the injuries from the storm.

Monday afternoon, Mulkey's family came to her mobile home on Martin Luther King Drive to salvage what they could of her pictures and belongings.

"She was a good sister," said James Akins, Mulkey's borther, "She would do anything for anybody."

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So far, Channel 2 Action News has not received an official cause of death.

Even after news of Mulkey's, more amazing survival stories continue to emerge following Wednesday's deadly tornado.

Since Thursday morning, crews have been crushing and moving debris non-stop.

"So far, everything is going good," Eric Worley told Channel 2's Craig Lucie.

Worley said he was hired by the owners of the Adairsville Supermarket which exploded during the storm. All that is left is the foundation and a lot of wood and metal that Worley is trying to haul off.

"I go in and get it (debris) outside the building where I can work because I'm on a crawl space trying to creep across it (foundation), trying not to fall through," Worley said.

As he worked, a man who has worked at the supermarket for 10 years picked up what he could with his bare hands.

"It's really hard. I've never been through something like this before. I used to come here and start working. It will be awhile before I start back working again," Sam Patel told Lucie.

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Patel said their insurance will cover everything damaged including his lost paychecks.

"We'll rebuild it again, the same spot and do the same job," Patel said.

Next door to the supermarket is Midway Truck and Auto. Lucie met Forrest Smith there, who was collecting nails in a coffee mug and other tools he that could savage. When Lucie asked him if he considered himself lucky after surviving the storm he explained it wasn't luck.

"I'm not lucky, I'm blessed. I was in the hand of God," Smith said.

The owner of Midway Truck and Auto, Terry Edwards, showed Lucie how he was able to walk away alive.

"After it was over, it was terrifying, but we didn't have time to think about it," Edwards explained.

He said he and his 81-year-old mother crouched under two desks. An 83-year-old man was also in the store, and he huddled down with them. He walked away with only a scratch on his head.

Edwards said he didn't realize how fortunate he was until he looked around.

"It really moves you to see how much it is torn up," Edwards said.

WSBTV