Tuscaloosa storms kill at least 15; survivors tell how they made it through (slideshow, video)

Enlarge Izzy Gould/Tuscaloosa Bureau, The Birmingham News, Press-Register, and The Huntsville Times Rescue workers tend an injured 6-year-old at Rosedale Courts, 10th after he was pulled from the rubble on Greensboro Avenues, Tuscaloosa, Ala., after tornadoes struck on April 27, 2011. (Izzy Gould/Tuscaloosa Bureau) Tuscaloosa Tornado Damage: April 27, 2011 gallery (12 photos)

A firefighter tries to help Pearline Gilbert Hinton find shoes after severe storms killed 15 and damaged homes and businesses in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Izzy Gould/Tuscaloosa Bureau)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Pearline Gilbert Hinton and her son Kendrell Dewayne Hinton gathered in their small bathroom hoping to dodge death.

[Follow weather updates in the al.com Weather Center. ]

The 54-year-old mother climbed in her bathtub. Her 16-year-old son said he prayed to God as he hugged a toilet.

"I was just saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,"  Pearline Hinton said. "I was just praising the Lord and that thing was just coming."

Outside, a deadly tornado was sweeping across their 10th Avenue apartment complex. At least 15 people were confirmed dead and injuries numbered well over 100, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said at a news conference tonight after the storms. 

The storm roared east across Interstate 359, leaving a swath of damage that closed portions of the highway and caused traffic jams on secondary roads. 
 
Many cars at Townsend BMW had their windows blown out. Debris littered parking lots and streets. Power lines were knocked down and portions of roofs were ripped open. The Salvation Army building on 29th Street  was gutted.
 
Hundreds of people around Hinton's complex walked through rubble as gas leaked from pipes, and water sprayed from some of the leveled homes. Some of the injured begged for help, while others stared in horror and disbelief.

6-year-old lifted from rubble
 
In one home, men gathered atop rubble that once had been a home and collectively lifted and tossed wreckage from atop a 6-year-old boy. Once he was freed, firefighters checked his vital signs and placed him on a wooden door they used as a gurney. 

His shirtless, injured father wept before his son was taken to an ambulance that already held two more of the injured.

Child lifted from Tuscaloosa rubble Residents help firefighters lift a child from the rubble of a housing development in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after a tornado hit the city on April 27, 2011. Watch video

Hinton stood in the street in front of her home in a blue dress with no shoes and minor cuts on her feet. Her hair was cluttered with tiny pieces of insulation, but she and her son were grateful to be alive.

A firefighter approached Hinton and asked if she was familiar enough with the neighborhood to help match names with homes. He quickly went to find shoes for her, retrieving a cowboy boot and another shoe that was not hers. The gesture was enough to bring a smile to Hinton's face.

Behind her was a row of cars that were once parallel parked on her street. They now sat on her yard including her totaled 1998 Buick LeSabre, which was trapped beneath a wrecked Dodge Durango.

The windows and roof  in Hinton's apartment, 2B, were completely removed providing a clear view to the sky.

"I had been watching the news and I seen it coming, and I told my son to, 'Come on, let's get in the bathroom,'" Hinton said. "We got in there and everything just started crashing and breaking, chairs and everything were flying. I mean TV's and cars and everything."

As afternoon turned to night and more people filled the streets, a dose of reality hit Hinton. 

Where would she go? What would she do?

"I'm trying to call my siblings, ain't nobody picking up," Hinton said. "I ain't got nowhere to go."