Babies safe after tornado destroys Charlotte daycare

With only seconds to spare, all of the children were moved out of harm's way as an EF-1 tornado caused trees to fall on a Charlotte daycare Thursday.

Posted 8:04 p.m. Feb 8, 2020 — Updated 2:15 p.m. Feb 9, 2020

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sherri Wellman had just put five infants and toddlers down for a nap at her at-home daycare as the storms moved through Charlotte on Thursday, according to reports on WCNC. She never expected to be hit by a tornado until it hit her house.

Thankfully, she saw the warning on the news and rushed to grab the babies and get them into the hallway, away from windows, for safety.

Her husband narrowly escaped with the last child as a large tree came crashing down on the room.

"I can't believe how close those babies came," she said. "That tree came crashing down when we were still moving kids."

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"The baby got wet, he got wet," she continued as she remembered her husband saving the last child.

She's thankful everyone escaped with their lives, but now her business and income are gone.

"I need to find a house, I need it to be a place I can reopen the daycare," Wellman said.

Relatives have created a GoFundMe account to help raise money for the family to get back on their feet.

The EF-1 tornado traveled nearly 18 miles from Carowinds, to Pineville, across south Charlotte, into Matthews, before finally lifting in Union County.

No injuries were reported as a result of this tornado.

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