CLARK COUNTY, Ind. — A baby blue water tower reading “Marysville” stood alone over blocks of rubble and broken glass that used to be a small town.

A tornado wiped out Marysville, Ind., a town of approximately 1,900 residents, Friday afternoon. Now, the water tower is one of the few structures left standing.

“As far as Maryville goes, it’s a total loss,” said Jason Cochran, deputy chief of the New Washington Fire and EMS Department. “Most of the houses are totally destroyed.”

The twister devastated the town at about 3:30 p.m. last Friday

Fallen telephone poles run beside the town’s roads. Pieces of homes have become unrecognizable from one another, scattered across the countryside. The Marysville Community Center now rests in chunks amid a swing set in a playground.

As birds chirped and buildings creaked, the noise from chainsaws and helicopters overhead echoed through the town.

While tornados have reportedly killed 12 Hoosiers so far, there are no known deaths in Marysville.

Marysville resident Helen Hunt returned home only 15 minutes before the tornado struck. She waited out the storm, crammed inside her bathroom with her two dogs.

Like most homes in Marysville, she said, her home did not have a basement.

“Just like everybody says — a train’s coming, Satan’s knocking at your door and your ears pop and all hell broke loose,” Hunt said.

If she was not in her bathroom, she said she would not be alive. As the twister passed over her home, most of her belongings were sucked through her windows.

Friday evening, most residents displaced from the storm gathered their belongings — pets, photographs, anything left — and left town.

Judy Fulkerson, 72, stood among the debris as her son ventured into his house, which was ripped from its foundation, barely standing.

Her son came outside and loaded a filled laundry basket into his pickup.

“Ouch! Ouch! He’s biting me,” Fulkerson said, trapping a hamster inside a hamster wheel with her hands.

They lost their pet hamster, Fatty Ratty, during the storm, but later found it on the second floor of their home. While their cat and turtle also lived through the storm, dead fish and frogs were scattered across the floor.

Leaving behind what was once their home, Fulkerton and her son piled into a pickup truck and drove away to Fulkerton’s home in Otisco, Ind.

While most homes have been flattened, others remain on their foundations, but with severe damage.

A white, two-story house in Marysville still stood, but part of the roof had collapsed and windows were broken.

One wall of the house was completely gone, letting sunlight into a small bedroom. On the wall, a “Call of Duty” poster hung untouched. The board game “Life” was still visible in the closet.

The owners of the home, Leon and Debbie Gilbert, waited outside for an insurance representative to arrive.

Their 15-year-old daughter Zoe clenched her favorite teddy bear. Tears rolled down her freckled cheeks.

Leon was working as a heavy equipment operator when the tornado hit. Debbie had gone to pick up Zoe from Charlestown High School, where they went into lockdown. When they returned home Friday evening, the sight was anything but familiar.

“What I heard before we got here was that the entire thing was flat,” Zoe said. “When we got here, we were glad to see it’s not, but I was unable to go inside so the only things I had were the clothes I was wearing, my cellphone and that’s really it.”

A farm used to reside behind the home. Two silos now lay on the dirt, a pile of rubble. Leon’s mother and father originally owned the farm.

This property had been his home for most of his life.

But what would come next, Leon said he did not know.

A Blackhawk circled overhead. Debbie wondered if Gov. Mitch Daniels was inside the helicopter.

“I think I saw his bald head peeking out the window,” she said.

The insurance company told the family not to clean up the damage until after their arrival, so they waited outside. Then Debbie and Zoe, along with a family friend, decided to venture into the structure.

Inside the kitchen, wine glasses stood upright in a cabinet, unbroken. Papers, excluding Leon’s University of Kentucky basketball calendar, still hung from the refrigerator.

But the floor was covered in broken glass. The ceiling showed signs of water damage. Upstairs, Zoe’s room looked normal — “a disaster like always” — except for shards of her door lying on the carpet.

“Mom, I want to grab a pair of pants,” Zoe said.

“Yeah honey, grab what you want,” Debbie said as she walked back down the stairs.

“You coming down, babe?” Debbie asked, waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Zoe yelled down but could not be understood.

“You be careful coming back out,” Debbie yelled as she exited through a hole in the front door.

About 10 minutes later, Zoe came down the stairs and through the front door, carrying her teddy bear and a duffle bag with clothes, her cell phone charger and a Kindle Fire.

After a representative from the insurance company said they could begin cleaning up outside the house, Leon began to pick up the mess while others helped.

As they worked, a man in a camouflage jacket approached the house. A patch on the front of the jacket read “Governor.”

“Go get Debbie,” Leon said as he approached Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Daniels asked Leon and Debbie where they were when the tornado hit.

“I was at work,” Leon said. “We got lucky.”

“We’ve got all these people here who have stepped up to help us,” Debbie told Daniels. “We’re only a little spot in the road, but we’ll always open the door to help somebody.”

Marysville Hardware is one of few buildings in Marysville still standing without substantial structural damage. Owners Sue and JR Righthouse, along with four other employees, waited out the storm in the business’s bathroom.

Now, the small business acts as a meeting location for rescue teams and community members.

“God blessed us,” Sue Righthouse said. “We have a store. We had a house tonight. We’re here for the community. This store is 101 years old. We don’t desert that community and whatever the community needs.”

The store remained open all Friday night, acting as a central hub for rescuers.

Jordon Wheeler, 19, stood in the dark street with an orange light Friday evening. Although he is currently a Marysville Hardware employee, he hopes to one day become an EMT. In the road, Wheeler directed traffic so people did not go down the side streets and run over downed power lines.

Wheeler watched the twisters from the hardware store, but he said he was not fearful for his life.

Saturday morning, donated food covered a table outside the hardware store.

State Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Crothersville, said President Barack Obama and the White House staff have been notified of the condition of Marysville, along with other towns in the area destroyed by tornados. Obama, Goodin said, declared the tornados a disaster and has instructed federal agencies to aid in disaster relief.

Many displaced Marysville residents who were unable to remain at home or stay with friends and family found refuge at Charlestown High School.

As residents began to dig through their belongings, many wondered what would happen to their town. Some mentioned the possibilities of rebuilding while other contemplated moving on.

“Say a prayer for this town,” Sue Righthouse said.