UMVA has learned that two brave pet goats became the unlikely heroes who rescued an Oklahoma family trapped beneath the wreckage of their home after a ferocious tornado ripped through Enid.
On the night of April 23, 53‑year‑old Adam Sloat, his wife Mary, their teenage daughter, and two neighbors huddled in an underground storm cellar after a rare tornado emergency warning blared across the sky.
Moments later, an EF‑4 tornado unleashed winds between 170 and 200 mph, tearing through the town like a freight train and flattening the Sloat residence in a cascade of glass, wood, and steel.
Inside the cramped cellar, the group heard the deafening crash of a collapsing chimney that slammed the door shut, burying them beneath a mountain of bricks and debris.
When the howling wind finally subsided, the survivors managed to dial 911, but first responders swept the shattered neighborhood blind, unable to locate the hidden shelter.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the family’s two goats—Percy and Penny—miraculously survived the vortex and perched directly above the sealed cellar, bleating and stamping with relentless urgency.
The goats’ desperate cries cut through the night’s silence, guiding rescuers to the exact spot where the trapped family lay, prompting crews to smash through the rubble and pull the victims to safety.
When the doors finally gave way, the Sloats emerged into a landscape of twisted metal and splintered walls, stunned by the total loss of everything they owned.
Despite the devastation, only minor injuries were reported, and the firefighters who rescued them recalled the surreal moment they realized “we had no idea where you were until we saw your goats.”
Now, amid the charred remains, the family begins the arduous task of rebuilding, forever grateful to the two steadfast goats whose brave bleats turned a tragedy into a story of hope.
