Advertisement

After deadly Oklahoma twister, elderly woman finds dog alive in rubble

Loyal dog stays near owner's body

An elderly woman's sweet reunion with her beloved dog has become a symbol of hope following the deadly twister that ripped through Oklahoma City's suburbs.

"Tornadoes, for all their vicious bulk, are capricious. You often hear stories of half a house being reduced to toothpicks, while in the other half the knickknacks sit undisturbed on the shelf. They can rip a building out of the ground and leave a little dog dusty and dazed, but otherwise unscathed," Andrea Denhoed wrote in the New Yorker.

CBS News' Anna Werner interviewed Barbara Garcia, a long-time resident of Moore, Oklahoma, at the site of Garcia's demolished home. As Garcia walked over the mangled debris, she spoke of the dog she lost in the tornado.

"I know he's in here somewhere," Garcia told Werner.

A member of the camera crew spotted it first: a dog's head sticking out the rubble.

CBS News captured the happy reunion on camera:

"Well I thought God just answered one prayer to let me be OK, but he answered both of them," a tearful Garcia said.

[ More Good News: Out of Oklahoma City, stories of survival, heroism ]

Garcia's pup isn't the only lucky dog to make headlines.

Rescuers found another furry survivor of the twister. A photo of the scared pup who had been standing guard over a deceased individual buried in the wreckage was posted on Facebook by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's office, with a note that the deputy would adopt the dog.

The media attention — more than 16,000 Facebook users shared the image — helped reunite the dog, named Susie Collins, with her owner.

"Please don't adopt Susie Collins. She is my brother Curtis' dog and he is alive and the only reason he is not well is that he is looking for Susie," Sheila Collins wrote on Facebook.

The Sheriff's office responded that they "would definitely like to help get this dog back to its family."

CBS News shared other stories of hope and survival:

ABC News also covered stories of hope:

Oklahoma's Department of Emergency Management reported that rescue workers freed more than 100 survivors from destroyed buildings.

"We will rebuild and we will regain our strength," promised Governor Mary Fallin.

"The people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them, as long as it takes," Obama said at the White House.