nancy devito was trapped inside of this home after the storm hit her sarasota county neighborhood. isabel mascarenas was with nancy as she returned to the rubble. >> it's unbelievable. that i came out of there. >> reporter: nancy devito had her first look at what's left of the home she's bent nearly 40 years living in. >> i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: strong vin and rattling glass doors woke her. >> i thought, i better leave the bedroom. >> reporter: nancy nearly made it to the bedroom door when the tornado hit. >> the big boom. everything falling. knocked me down. everything was black. and then i felt water all around me. the pipe broke. >> reporter: nancy was trapped facedown in an 18 inch gap. the roof and walls crumbled. as nancy laid face down underneath all of that rubble, her first thought was she would never see her family again. >> i was so scared. scared i wouldn't see them again. >> reporter: she was alert to every frightening moment. >> about 30 minutes, i was there screaming and trying to beat on the floor. finally, i heard somebody call my name. >> reporte

a face of fear, tears mixing with the rain as firefighters race nancy devito to safety. there wasn't too much void spaces for her to be in. she was lucky enough to be in the right one. >> reporter: the right one, a the roof collapsed on her when the tornado hit. her boyfriend remembering the moments before. >> she was over in this corner. and she was walking down the hall. that's when it hit. >> reporter: nancy was stuck for more than half an hour. she cried for help as firefighters worked krazly -- worked hard to get her out. firefighters giving us a look at how they worked. watch as one little air bag can lift a 6,000 pound pickup off the ground. >> we were just nervous it could shift the debris. >> reporter: each piece was positioned just right. >> how could something this small too such a big job. >> it's all about air pressure. >> it's also about the pressure they face as each minute goes by. this that can save lives just like nancy devito's. >> take a live look right there. there is an assortment of air bags right there >> you talk about how these air bags come in

. >> >> reporter: well, wendy, the victim's name, nancy devito. she's calling it a miracle, it really is. the roof blown away from the here, even this care buried this -- she shows us where her mother was trapped for two hours after the roof fell on top of her. a friend, living downstairs, was able to call in neighbors, thankfully for help. grabbed a ladder, climbed through the roof and lot nancy know "help is on the way." >> nancy said she knew storms were coming, but she never thought it would be a tornado. she tried to look for help, but it was too late. >> i just thought i would be able to get out of the room before the windows blue and i didn't. i didn't make it. it happened so fast. i didn't have time to really be afraid until it happened. and then i was scared. >> reporter: there you hear it from her. coming up at 5:30, you will hear again from nancy. we'll also tell you about a group of people that are being called ainge gentlemens. helping out in a very big way. more on that today at 5:30. reporting live in sarasota, sara row vair yo' act

the roof collasped on 74 year old nancy devito, pinning her in an 18- inch space. the fire department special operations team rolled out these airbags, typically used in crashes to lift cars off the ground. it raised tons of allowing rescuers to pull her to safety, remarkably with only some cuts and bruises. sarasota county leaders say the ef-2 tornado caused 12 million dollars in damage to 20 homes in the siesta key area. everyone is waking up to chilly temperatures this morning, and it's just going to get colder. cold weather shelters across the bay area will be open tonight. in pasco county, impact family ministries on washington street port richey, opens at 6:00 p-m. that's for individuals only. in holiday, metropolitan ministries on u-s 19 will open at 6 p-m for families. in pinellas county, peace memorial presbyterian church in clearwater and boys and girls club of the suncoast in pinellas park opens between 6 and 6:30 p-m. those are just a few of the shelters that will be open tonight. a shelter closer to you...or if you know someone who needs a warm place t

. >> reporter: sunday morning's tornado turned all of this into rubble and trapped 74 year old nancy devito. fortunately two friends weren't hurt. her daughter and her brother debris. >> the ef 2 tornado with winds hour. they took the brunt of it. >> reporter: we're standing on what was tammy's bedroom on the northwest corner of the house. her mother made a dash to the bedroom, but only made it as far as the bedroom door when the roof collapsed around her. she was trapped in an 18-inch gap. >> she was afraid that the rest of the roof was going to fall on her. she was crying and thought she was going to die. >> reporter: her dog charlie made it out too. >> we are just thankful that >> reporter: in sarasota, 10news wtsp. >>> if you need help and you live in sarasota county, grab a pen and paper (941)379-9300. we also have the phone number on wtsp.com. >>> we are seeing some of the saddest impact of these storms. a couple was killed in do you -- duet. neighbors were all out digging through the rubble. >> they have all helped each they'll make it through this. >> we actually spoke to one woman

nancy devito said she was awaken in the middle of the night by the sounds of the tornado, but as she tried to go into another room, everything came crashing. >> i thought everything was going to come down on me. there was water all around me. the pipe broke. i thought i'm going to drown or die. >> nancy said she spent 30 minutes screaming for help found her. it took firefighters another 90 minutes to get her free. nancy said she has stretches, bruises and chards of glass in her leg, but she is thankful to be alive. >> dangerous weather catching a lot of people off guard because it was in the middle of the night. we talk to dennis to see if any way. >> most people knew there was the possibility of tornadoes. we talked about it five days. when it happens late at night, people already had gone to bed and it happens so quickly. it makes it difficult to be ready for. that's why having apps like storm shield to notify you when there is danger in our area. sarasota tornado, a little stronger, stayed on the ground its widthth was 350-yards. this, obviously, long gone, left in its wake, colde

you just heard from a survivor of the sarasota tornado. 74-year-old nancy devito was trapped in her second story bedroom after the walls and roof came she was buried under rubble for half an hour. firefighters made the risky decision to go in and get her out. we showed you on used airbags to lift body -- allowing her to crawl to safety. nancy says it's unbelievable that she survived. baby chance's mom is set to accept you may recall chance walsh is the 9-week-old baby who was last seen september 9th. his body was buried in a wooded area in north port. show walsh's mom, kristen bury, told investigators the joseph walsh beat she did not intervene. her plea hearing morning. a former republican vice presidential candidate is joining the stump for trump. that tops our look at headlines around the nation and the world in 60 seconds. republican candidate donald endorsement from palin took aim at the g-o-p for "attacking their own front-runner." the announcement weeks ahead of the iowa caucus, where trump is locked in a dead heat with ted cruz. to hawaii now where the coast guard is calling off th

looking up and wondering if the roof over you is not going to >>> the roof of nancy devito's house collapsed over her. she's in the hospital but her family is left trying to salvage what memories they can. >> my mom was kind of counting on that to be able to move some where else. and, now everything is gone. the only thing we can hope for is somebody is going to want a beautiful beautiful front piece of property to build on. >> reporter: as for nancy she's currently staying with one of her daughters. she's still bruised and -- and sore but very thankful to be alive. >>> work crews have a huge job ahead of them. >> this area, this is the living room or what was the living room. >> yeah what was the living room. >> reporter: on this fourth floor condo there's devastation everywhere you look. anybody go through something like this. >> reporter: 40 workers are on- site doing the clean up. the rebuilding efforts will take months. county officials say 50 buildings were badly damaged by the tornado causing around $11 million in damage. >> we have a lot of damage but we have a good insurance company

>> reporter: guys it took firefighters two hours just to get to nancy devito. as you can see, the roof collapsed on top of her and another part of the house, happened. thankfully, she lived to talk about it. a total loss. >> god wasn't ready for me. >> reporter: nancy is counting her blessings after surviving a she tried to run, but it was too late. >> it happened so fast. i didn't have time to really be afraid until it happened. and then i was scared. i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: the roof collapsing, trapping her inside, a pipe bursting feet away and she stuck face down in darkness. water rising, the tornado cutting off all electricity. >> i thought i'm going to drown that's where the fireman had to pull her through and over this defensek to get her out of the house. >> she made it out alive. thanks to a friend downstairs calling 9-1-1, all the while, nancy screaming -- >> finally, i heard someone call my name. >> that neighbor climbing to the roof, all he could grab was her foot, letting her no help was on the way. helped to clean up. one group

. >> reporter: nancy devito had seen pictures but nothing compares to seeing in person what is left of her home along sarasota bay. way. >> reporter: when the f2 tornado struck sunday morning, it kept nancy under the roof near her bedroom door. >> and i'm on the floor in the dark. can't move. it was terrifying i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: nancy laid in an exposed. >> i started screaming and yelling. >> reporter: firefighter steven >> we had to tunnel our way into her through one of the non- bearing walls, we had to bust the drywall out. >> nancy had been buried for half an hour. firefighters had no time to secure the building. >> we took it upon ourselves to take the risk to get her out. >> reporter: firefighters used airbags to slowly lift the roof. there were tense moments. >> we heard some of the wood shifting and creaking. >> rescuers pulled nancy over the desk, then she had to do the rest. opening. >> very resilient for sure. she was determined to get out of there. >> they were wonderful. just wonderful. >> reporter: the insurance adjuster told nancy her home is a to

the victim nancy devito was taken to the hospital yesterday. she has since been released. >>> and today the massive clean up effort begins in the tornado ravaged areas of sarasota. the storms caused millions of the dollars of damage. today contractors, restoration teams and good samaritans came out to help. john rogers continues our team coverage live in sarasota county. >> this gives you a good idea of the task ahead of these this is rubble from this home that was corn up by the tornado. one of the big problems we have is exposed nails that we have everywhere. if you can believe, there's a car underneath this pile of rubble. despite what looks like a difficult task, officials are confident that they will bring life back to normal. >> this area was the living room. or what was the living room. >> reporter: on the fourth floor of this building there's look. >> you don't like to see like this. >> reporter: 40 workers are on- site doing clean up. they'll be here picking up debris. take months. >> this is a mayor operation. >> it is, it's always a