Lost and Found: Woman Miraculously Finds Wedding Gown After Tornado

On May 19, 2013, a powerful EF-4 tornado tore through Hoke's town of Shawnee, Okla. She, her husband and their children were able to ride out the tornado in a storm shelter. "I looked to my left, which is where my house was, to see if it was still there... It was gone. I didn't know what to do," Hoke said describing the aftermath. "It was like the whole house kind of exploded. We lost everything -- stuff that can truly never be replaced. It's hard losing that. Well, it's a memory now."

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After the tornado, the family picked through the rubble of their lives with the help of six volunteers to see what could be salvaged. One of the volunteers approached Hoke holding a dirty, ripped and frayed bundle of white cloth. When she took a closer look, she realized it was her wedding dress. "I felt this sudden surge of joy and happiness that something had actually been returned to me, something that couldn't be replaced," she said."Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can bring somebody happiness and make them feel good," said Kim Bahavar, one of the volunteers who helped the tornado victims, "It was, in a sense, a miracle that the dress was found."Finding her wedding dress gave Hoke hope. There is a light at the end of this tunnel after devastation. "It makes me believe that our love is strong enough that even this tornado hasn't ripped us apart."