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Mother delivers baby girl after surviving McMinn Co. tornado

A McMinn County mother delivered a healthy baby girl after surviving Wednesday's EF-2 tornado.

Residents and crews are working to clear debris in the aftermath of an EF-2 tornado in McMinn and Polk counties.

McMinn County resident Amber Newman was a week shy from her due date when the tornado hit on Wednesday morning.

“After it happened, she wasn’t moving or anything,” Newman said. “That really had scared me. I thought something had happened.”

Shortly after the tornado, medical staff at Starr Regional Medical Center in Athens performed an emergency C-section on Newman to deliver a healthy baby girl.

Newman was one of seven people inside of her home who survived the tornado. Newman, her mother April and family members gathered for shelter in a bathroom. The tornado took and tossed their home, which now lies in pieces.

“It just keeps replaying. I just keep asking myself what I could I have done different?” April Newman said. “There’s nothing. Nothing that I could’ve done different.”

April Newman said she held onto one of her babies and prayed.

The Newman family has a home someone is letting them stay in until they get back on their feet.

Wednesday’s tornado hurt 20 people and damaged 30 structures. Two people died in a separate EF-3 tornado in Polk County.

Photo Gallery: Storm damage in East Tennessee from tornadoes and severe storms

Map: Click here to view the National Weather Service’s tornado database

More: Two killed in EF-3 tornado in Polk County

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