DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. — “It’s a picture of my grandmother, it’s the only picture I got of her,” Marlene Kimmel said, choked out between tears. "It’s the only picture I have of her. The only picture, ever, that I’ve ever had of her. This right here is what I come back for.”

Marlene Kimmel and her husband, Gene spent Wednesday morning combing through what remains of their home in Dawson Springs.

“We’ve lived on this corner for about 40 years,” Marlene Kimmel said.

December is one of their favorite times of the year. Gene Kimmel is big on decorating for the holidays.

“Oh, it’s something I do every year since I was a kid,” he said. “I did it for my parents, and she said, ‘Gene, you know, if you want to do something creative, why don’t you do it for Christmas?’”

But the holiday spirit was wiped out when the tornado destroyed their home. They were watching the news for updates as it happened.

“This flashing cone come across, and he said, ‘That’s a catastrophic event, everybody needs to get out of the way.’ We just didn’t have time to leave,” Gene Kimmel said. “We had to hunker down, get into the safe part of the house, and that’s where we were. And everything come off around us, we were just blessed. We prayed the whole time.”

Those prayers were answered. The hallway where they stayed was just about the only part of the house with the roof still standing.

“We heard the roof just started ripping, you know RIIIPPP,” Marlene Kimmel said.

But a glimmer of hope came in the afternoon. They’re supporters of President Joe Biden, who visited Dawson Springs Saturday.

“I hope I get to shake his hand today, you know?” Gene Kimmel said.

“I said I’d grab him and kiss him, but they’d probably grab me and throw me to the ground!” Marlene Kimmel said laughing.

Of course, not everyone shares that same sentiment. I walked a few houses down to gauge the reaction on the block.

“I don’t care. I don’t expect him to show. I could care less, sorry,” Sheila Hester and Rose Hodges said simultaneously. “We just really don’t see him being here in this.”

Many people we spoke to might not approve of the president, but say they need the media coverage that comes with him.

“It’s good. I mean, it shows the people that maybe he cares.” Dawson Springs resident Eugene Drennan said. “He’s a politician, that’s what he does though, whether he cares or not.”

Drennan lives in a neighborhood where the tornado destroyed just about every house.

“It’s bad,” he said. “All my neighbors are dead.”

House after house was devastated. Picking up the pieces has to start somewhere though. At Gene and Marlene’s house, it starts with a little humor and plan to stay in the same place.

“I want to. I mean, what are the odds of it, another tornado coming through here?” Marlene Kimmel said, laughing.

In this community, hopefully slim odds. They can’t take much more.