A mother’s devastating story has come to light after she lost her twin daughters in a powerful tornado that hit New York.
Kayleigh Bisson and her daughters, six-year-old Emily and Kenni, were asleep on the first floor of their Clark Mills home when an EF-1 tornado—with 95-mph winds and heavy rain—tore through their neighborhood.
The storm was strong enough to uproot large maple trees near their house. One tree came crashing through the roof and second floor, eventually collapsing onto the first floor where the family was sleeping.
Rick Carollo, from the Clark Mills Fire Department, told *Syracuse.com* that the storm “sounded like a freight train.” The noise of the falling tree woke him up, and shortly after, he received an alert that the house next door needed urgent help.
Neighbor Jared Bowman said he rushed to Bisson’s house after hearing the crash. He found Kayleigh trying to escape through a window and helped her out by climbing a tree.
“She was screaming, ‘Get my kids out!’” Bowman recalled. “But it was silent inside. It felt eerie—just wrong.”
Carollo managed to get into the house and began searching. He found one of the girls, but tragically, she had no pulse. Emergency responders located both twins, but they were pronounced dead at the scene.
Kayleigh and her daughters had only recently moved into the Clark Mills home. Emily and Kenni were both first-grade students at Clinton Elementary School.
The school district’s superintendent, Christopher Clancy, shared a sorrowful message following the loss:
“Earlier today, a severe weather emergency in our community resulted in the tragic loss of life, including two of our elementary students,” he wrote. “Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected.”
A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Kayleigh with funeral costs, and has raised over \$308,000 at the time of writing.
Tragically, the tornado also claimed another life in a separate incident. According to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, 50-year-old Shelly Johnson was killed when a tree fell through her roof while she slept.