PHENIX CITY, ALA. — A former Panama, N.Y., resident who has lived in Alabama for the last 10 years said Sunday proved to be a nerve-wracking day after more than a dozen people were killed when violent storms ripped through the deep south.

Larissa Walrod said she, her husband, and two children hid in their closet after receiving word of a possible tornado. They live in Phenix City, Ala., located in the same Lee County where authorities believe a tornado touched down and left at least 14 people dead across several states as of press time.

“We were getting notices that a tornado had touched down and that it had left catastrophic damage,” said Walrod, who noted that the hardest hit areas were about 20 miles from her home.

After the first storm had passed, another soon arrived. Walrod said she and her husband, both 2000 graduates of Panama Central School, could hear what sounded like “rumbling thunder and a freight train” in the distance. She said her home did not sustain any damage, though other locations did about 6 miles away.

“My youngest (child) kept asking if it was over and if the tornado was dead and never coming back,” she said. “I can’t imagine being a little kid. My husband and I just reassure them that it’s going to be OK and that we just have to wait in the closet until the warning is over.”

Walrod said she has grown accustomed to tornado sirens; her city holds tornado siren drills every week to be prepared. However, even though the Panama native has lived in “tornado alley” for a decade, Sunday’s storms were by far the worst she has encountered.

“We have not left the house,” she said. “We were told not to travel since there are wires down and a lot of emergency vehicles out. They don’t want extra people out on the roads.”