Laurel County Emergency Management director recalls March 2nd, 2012

In the East Bernstadt area, six people lost their lives in or after the tornado, five years ago. It is a day most people will never forget.

But one man holds onto those memories in a physical, concrete way. WYMT's Caleb Noe caught up with him to hear his story.

Laurel County Emergency Management Director Albert Hale keeps a box full of 2012 tornado documents.

"I like to keep things because if it's not on paper, it's like it never happened," Hale said.

It includes pages and pages of damage assessment, victim's names, pictures of the devastation and newspaper clippings.

"It's a day that nobody that has experienced it is ever going to forget," Hale added.

No doubt, he says, it was one of the worst disasters in Laurel County's history/

"You're going up against mother nature, and she's a lot stronger than I am," Hale said. "I'll think about it throughout the rest of my career."

It was a day some only wish they could forget.