Ashton Lemley as a storm chaser looked through and picked his way through a Mississippi trailer park that was obliterated by a tornado, he heard an unmistakable meow of a kitten piercing the predawn darkness.

Homes were smashed just hours earlier as storms spawned at least 3 tornadoes across the bottom half of Mississippi, injuring at least a dozen at the trailer park in the remote community of Bogue Chitto.

Lemley had no clue where the kitten was , but he was motivated to find it. A few minutes after, the meowing coming from the kitten stopped, and Lemley feared the worst.

Then around 5 minutes later he heard it again. 

Lemley had told the Associated Press, “ I said, ‘ Oh he’s still alive!’” on a Thursday.

Lemley then quickly dug under a piece of insulation from a flattened wall, until his flashlight found the kitten-scared, wet and hiding between 2 wooden posts. 

Lemley was recording this moment on video:“Oh my goodness, I found him!” he says to the camera. “ Are you OK? Come here- it’s OK; We’ll get you cleaned up, baby. Don’t you worry.”

Lemley then held the adorable kitten in his arms for a few minutes before handing the kitten to a commander of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer disaster-response group, the commander dried it off and took it to safety. Lemley marveled that it looked like it had no injuries.

Lemley said, “I’ve been in these situations so many times”, who have been chasing storms since 2010. “ I don’t try to get overly emotional. But it is very heartbreaking to see any type of animal or human go through something like that.”

The kitten won’t be coming home with him  though: ironically, Lemley is allergic to cats, even the adorable ones.