Heroic Tennessee dog reunited with family after tornado

A heroic Tennessee dog has been reunited with her family after a tornado.

A heroic Tennessee dog has been reunited with her family after disappearing following a Cookeville tornado on March 3.

Dog O’Day learned of this happy news through CNN.

Bella, a 6-year-old Miniature American Shepherd, woke up Eric Johnson by barking and acting very strangely, and 45 minutes later the tornado hit their home.

Bella was knocked into the debris pile where the yard used to be, and shortly thereafter disappeared.

The house was lost, Johnson sustained a head injury and his wife broke several ribs, CNN reported, though no one was killed, so that was a blessing.

‘It was hard for us knowing she had survived but we couldn’t find her,” Johnson told CNN.

Cookeville is the county seat of Putnam County, located in the north central part of the Volunteer State, and contains around 30,000 residents. North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Mack Brown is from there, and former Duke University basketball player JJ Reddick, who has enjoyed a lengthy NBA career, was born there. It is also the home of Tennessee Tech University.

With a friend from church, Sarah Romeryn, joining their search, Bella was finally found in an alley about four miles away, 54 days after she went missing.

The family used several cameras lent to them by a local dog rescue organization allow for possible sightings to lead to Bella’s whereabouts.

“The whole situation was incredible,” Romeryn told CNN. “I am so very grateful that I was position to be able to help him out.”

One of the dogs up for the 2020 Hero Dog Awards was part of the group who searched through the debris of this tornado in finding survivors and recovering bodies.

We’re very happy this heroic Tennessee dog was able to be reunited with her family, and thankful none of the family was seriously hurt.