Phillip Desedare rode out the tornado that struck Autauga County on Thursday packed in a closet with seven family members and four dogs.

Desedare and his wife, Vicki, are foster parents who live on Autauga County 68.

The three family homes on their property were in the path of the twister that roared into their sights from the southwest direction.

“I literally felt the house pick up and it shook and then it set it back down,” Desedare said. “We were lucky to get out of their alive.”

Vicki’s parents were in a separate home on the property that was destroyed but were not injured.

“My mother-in-law and father-in-law were actually in their house up under the kitchen table,” Desedare said. “It ripped the top of that house off, flipped it over, and then it took the table off of them and it threw the stove on top of them. And that’s the only thing that held them down.”

The storm flattened other houses near the Desedare’s home, part of a wave of destruction that authorities say killed seven people in the county.

The deaths were concentrated in the Old Kingston community near the center of the county, Autauga County EMA Director Ernie Baggett said.

Dozens of volunteers, including teachers at nearby schools and parents, dove into the massive cleanup job around the Desedare’s property on Friday morning.

“It is nice to see everybody coming together to help out,” said Melissa Johnson, counselor at Marbury Middle School, who was part of the volunteer crew. “But it’s very hard to see the heartbreak for the families who have lost everything.”

Johnson said there was no damage at the school.

“We were all there during the storm and everybody is fine,” Johnson said.

Desedare, 41, said he and his wife have 10 children, including five foster children and five adopted. Some were at school when the storm struck. Desedare said he was in the master bedroom closet with Vicki, two daughters-in-law, a grandson, two foster sons, a nephew’s baby, and the four dogs.

Daughter-in-law Shaunna Desedare, 22, described seeing the storm moments before it struck.

“We looked outside and it was just circling over there out of those woods,” Shaunna said.

Shaunna said she saw the funnel cloud. Asked what she thought at that point, she said, “I thought we were going to die. All we could do is just brace for impact at that point. We just went back inside and got in the closet. Made sure all the kids and animals were safe. I think it maybe lasted 30 seconds and everything was fine.”

Phillip Desedare said he went to check on his wife’s parents next door immediately after the twister hit.

“I couldn’t even get out the front door so I came out the bedroom window that was already busted out and got over to them and got them back in my house because it looked like it was coming back,” he said. “And stuff was still blowing around. So we just got back in the house and sat down until it was over with.”

Desedare said his plan is to move temporarily into a house owned by a friend in Chilton County.

“It’s a little three-bedroom home. We’re going to try to make it into a five-bedroom home and try to stay in it for right now,” he said.

Asked how the children were handling the loss of their home, he said, “It’s rough. Real rough.”