he would be like, come on. i was like, no. >> she had more fight in her, you know, to feel that need to protect everybody. >> when he came in and he said, get out here now, i knew -- my stomach dropped at that moment. just the look on his face and tone of his voice, i knew something was really, really wrong. and when i came around that building and saw it, my heart just dropped. >> you actually saw the twister? >> oh, yes. >> what did you see? >> it was enormous. i could see big, huge pieces of debris flying in the air. >> could you really? >> yes. it was -- i would say half a mile to a mile at the most away from us at that point. >> by then, they felt there was no time to get away. ladonna and steve bolted inside. they came to classroom 202, which just happened to be the classroom of their daughter erin in the first grade. >> the tornado precaution is put