Silver City tornado: Mom mourns 2-year-old daughter at funeral while clutching newborn son

YAZOO CITY — Mildred Drain was watching her four grandchildren when the twister ripped through her trailer home within seconds, leaving nothing but the steps to the front porch.

“By the time the sirens went off it was already over,” she said.

Frantic, Drain began searching for the children in the rubble and she cupped a head injury. She found the body of her 2-year-old granddaughter Aubree Green lying next to what was left of the bed.

At the time, Aubree’s mother, Dominique Green, was in the hospital about to give birth to a son when the tornado hit Drain’s home.

On Saturday, Green clutched her newborn boy Aiden close to her as she buried her two-year-old daughter.

Aubree was one of 21 people killed when the EF-4 rated tornado shredded 59 miles across the Mississippi Delta region on March 24, ravaging the small towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City, where Drain’s trailer home once stood. Green was one of three to die in Silver City.

On Friday, President Joe Biden visited Rolling Fork as workers were still restoring power and grappling with miles of debris. Officials have said the clean up could take months and the towns work to rebuild.

Aubree’s cousin, 8-year-old Kaleb, was also in the Silver Spring trailer home when the tornado hit. Kaleb suffered a severe brain injury and remains in the hospital in critical condition.

His mother, Jessica Drain, who was working at the time, said doctors are hopeful that Kaleb will recover.

“We’re taking it day by day,” she said.

The family on Saturday held Aubree’s memorial service at the Scott Memorial Funeral Home in Yazoo City, a Central Mississippi town with colorful rundown buildings and overgrown vegetation.

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With a pink flower bow on her head, the two-year-old lay in white casket with gold trim as the pastor, Rev. Robert Green, said a prayer.

“We don’t have to worry about Aubree,” he said. “She is in her place.”

“Amen,” the crowd responded.

Wiping away tears, Dominique Green was comforted by family members as she held Aiden. He was born healthy the day after the tornado hit, weighing 5 pounds and 11 ounces.

Aubree was laid to rest in a cemetery not far from town, in a shaded, grassy patch near an old cotton field.

Her aunt, Melida Gates, said the family suffered another tragedy when her uncle Richard Drain, 69, was found dead of a heart attack the day after the tornado. Now the family is planning for another funeral next week.

“It’s just one heartbreak after another,” she said. “Once we get through the next week, we’ll try to pull it all together and move on.”

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Kaleb’s medical costs. Visit here for more information: https://www.gofundme.com/f/4mf4dn-kalebs-expenses

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Silver City tornado: Mom mourns 2-year-old at funeral holding newborn