DeDe Stone crouches beside the graves of her sister, Debbie Gibbs Fox, and brother-in-law Harold Fox, who were killed in Bledsoe County during the April 27 tornadoes.PRECIOUS LIVESWhen a series of storms and tornadoes blasted through the tri-state area on April 27, 76 people lost their lives during the storm or in the days after due to storm-related events. Three students from Northeast Alabama died in Tuscaloosa, bringing the total deaths to 79 for Southeast Tennessee, Northeast Alabama and Northwest Georgia. Here is a brief glimpse of who those people were, provided by the families and friends who continue to grieve their loss two months after they died.TENNESSEEGEORGIAALABAMA
The youngest was 3 months old. The two oldest were 90.
They were teachers, students, ministers and factory workers. They were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, some entire families and more than a dozen married couples.
Precious lives. Stolen away by the whirlwind of storms that exploded homes and leveled communities in wave after wave of destruction on April 27.
In the days that followed, after more than a dozen tornadoes pummeled the tri-state area, the focus was on the living. Hundreds were injured, thousands without food to eat or a bed to sleep in.