LONDON, Ky. (WKYT) – Friday marks one year since an EF-4 tornado tore through southern Kentucky, leaving behind a trail of destruction and grief.
Some of the worst damage was in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London. Sara Wolfe, one of the survivors, nearly lost everything and is still finding her way back.
“It definitely doesn’t feel like it’s been a year at all,” Wolfe said.
The night of the storm
The night of May 16, 2025, will remain etched into the residents of the Sunshine Hills neighborhood forever. The National Weather Service confirmed that a deadly EF-4 tornado tore through the neighborhood, with the scar still visible a year later.
Wolfe and her son sheltered through the storm in her hallway. While they survived, the night quickly turned into a desperate search she will never forget.
“I don’t know that there are words. The trees had all fallen, the road was gone, you couldn’t see anything, no power,” Wolfe said.
Just down the street, less than a half mile away, her mother-in-law, 70-year-old Virginia Wolfe, lived. Her home was in the immediate path of the tornado.
“We’re calling her phone and trying to get a hold of her and at one point someone answered the phone and the responder had found her phone. But not her. Not her yet,” Wolfe said.
The search and rescue
First responders eventually found Virginia alive, but critically injured, buried in the debris. All med evac flights were grounded due to the London Airport being decimated in the storm’s path, but that didn’t stop first responders from getting her the help she needed.
“They carried her they said from over here all the way down to that subdivision to where an ambulance was,” Sara Wolfe said.
After a long fight against her injuries in the ICU, Virginia passed away in August. Sara, a first responder herself, said she found herself on the other side of tragedy.
“You didn’t realize you had that many people in your corner, to have that many people that cared… even strangers willing to drop everything to help you. I don’t know that all towns have that – and that is something so special about here,” she said.
One year later
One year later, Sara drives past empty lots and rebuilding homes every day, each one a reminder. Her home sustained thousands of dollars in damage, but just feet away complete structures were lost, only leaving the foundation.
“I don’t ever anticipate ignoring any kind of warning or being nonchalant about it. We have whistles now that my son and I tuck in our shirts anytime there’s bad weather,” she said.
Virginia’s home is gone, along with decades of memories. Her rose bush is blooming this spring. But for Sara, those moments of May 16 are never far away.
“I just want to go inside and see her and sit and have coffee at the table with her… sit out back and listen to Jimmy Buffett with her. I miss it,” she said.
A year later, Sara holds tightly to what remains — the memories, the love, and the reminder that even in the darkest moments, she was never alone.
Sunshine Hills is still rebuilding, one home, one family, at a time.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
