Family rescued from van during tornado

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - The Walker family pulled off the main road in downtown Hampton because they saw the tornado coming.

"We saw the twister and we tried to take cover, so we pulled in here," said mother Alisa Walker, pointing at her minivan, totaled by debris in the Mill Point neighborhood. 

Two parents, four children and their dog were trapped inside.

The National Weather Service reports the EF-1 tornado had winds up to 98 mph and traveled a 3.5 mile path through Hampton Friday night.

The Walkers say those strong winds caused a tree to fall right on top of their vehicle after they thought they parked it in a safe spot.

"We started screaming, 'Help us! Help us!'" said Walker. "We couldn't get any of the doors open, except for one, we got it halfway open."

Another large branch of the tree fell on top of them. One of the limbs broke the windshield. Father Jimmy Walker was bleeding from the head. The kids kept pushing on the doors, but none of them would open.

"We pray as a family and that's what we did," said Alisa Walker, the children's mother. "When we parked, we just began to pray."

Sean Curtis, a young man who lives in the condo complex, heard their screams and answered their prayers. Though they had never met before, Curtis risked his own life to pull the Walkers through the small opening to safety.

"You never know how bad someone is hurting when they're screaming for help," said Curtis.

Curtis says his father is a firefighter, so helping others is in his blood. But, even he admits, this was the most difficult situation he has found himself in yet.

"If I had to give it a one out of 10, that was definitely a ten," said Curtis. "I've never been in a situation where I had to react so fast."

Saturday afternoon, the Walkers watched as other good Samaritans helped clear the limbs and tree trunks off their van. They wish the vehicle had fared as well as they did.

"Guess it was a bad place to park," joked Alisa Walker. She says she is thankful for the stranger who saved her family's life.

The two exchanged a hug when they saw each other for the second time Saturday.