Tornado-Tossed Bible Reunites Laurel County Families in Wake of Destruction

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Amid the devastation left behind by the powerful tornado that tore through Laurel County, one remarkable discovery offered a sign of hope and faith.

A Bible that had been swept up in the storm was found intact—soaked but undamaged—by a former neighbor and returned to its original owner, crossing nearly a mile and the interstate in the process.

The Bible belonged to Chance Wyatt, who received it as a preschool graduation gift from Little Shepherd’s at Calvary Baptist Church. It was found by Jerry Blanton as he surveyed the wreckage of his yard three days after the tornado struck. Blanton and his wife, Regina, lived next door to Leslie and Jeff Wyatt for nearly a decade in the White Pine subdivision. Though the Wyatts had since moved to the Sunshine Hill community across the interstate, the families remained in occasional contact.

Both homes were destroyed in the storm.

Blanton said he was outside clearing debris when he spotted the Bible. Recognizing it, he called the Wyatts immediately.

“I was expecting bad news,” Leslie Wyatt told WYMT. “So I grabbed Jeff’s arm. But Jerry said he found a Bible. He turned it over, and it was our son Chance’s.”

The Bible, though damp from the rain, had no pages missing or torn—something Blanton called a miracle.

“It was wet, but there wasn’t a page torn out of it,” he said. “And to see the destruction of the houses and everything tore up, and that Bible just being wet and unscathed. It’s a miracle. It’s a miracle that we are still here.”

Calvary Baptist Church, where the Bible originated, is now housing Samaritan’s Purse volunteers, who are helping with cleanup and relief efforts in the area.

Both families say they remain faithful despite the destruction.

“There are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason,” Leslie Wyatt said.

“He wanted it to come this way for a reason,” added Jerry Blanton. “We just have to see what that reason is.”

For these families, the Bible’s journey stands as a powerful reminder that faith can weather even the strongest of storms.
Story originally reported by WYMT