Miss. tornado victim was quiet great-grandmother

[April 26, 2010]  YAZOO CITY, Miss. (AP) -- A 78-year-old great-grandmother was among the 10 victims of a Mississippi tornado that devastated part of the state.

Grace Coker told The Associated Press on Sunday that her sister Stella Martin was killed when the storm rolled through a rural area just outside Yazoo City in west-central Mississippi. Coker says Martin's husband was injured and had to be airlifted to a hospital.

Coker lived just steps away from her sister and brother-in-law. Both lived in mobile homes and the tornado picked up the Martins' house and slammed it into Coker's.

The 75-year-old Coker had gone to stay with other relatives when the storm approached Saturday. She was composed as she dug through what was left of her house, but started crying when a friend stopped by to check on her.

[Associated Press]

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