Tray Chaney, best known to TV fans as Poot from HBO's The Wire, is now telling a very different kind of story. Chaney and his son Malachi are opening up about how they survived an EF-2 tornado that tore through Henry County, Georgia, last year and leveled the family’s home. The two describe harrowing injuries, a frantic search to find each other in the debris and the slow, grinding work of rebuilding life after the storm.
On the May 15 episode of The Marissa Mitchell Show, the father and son sat down with host Marissa Mitchell and walked through that day and everything that followed, according to FOX 5 DC. They detailed the fear in the seconds when the house began to collapse around them and the emotional toll of a recovery that has stretched on for months. The segment marked their most in-depth television update since local outlets first covered the destruction and Malachi’s hospitalization last year.
What officials recorded about the tornado
According to survey data compiled by Weather.com, the tornado that struck the Laurel Creek and Locust Grove area on May 29, 2025, was rated an EF-2, with estimated peak winds near 135 mph and a track of roughly 1.8 miles across southern Henry County. That is the kind of power that can strip a house down to its foundation in moments, and for the Chaneys it did exactly that.
Neighbors and emergency crews told Fox Weather that the storm intensified quickly, leaving precious little time to react as roofs and walls were torn away. By the time first responders made it into the neighborhood, entire structures, including the Chaney home, had been reduced to wreckage.
Recovery, rehab and community support
Malachi suffered multiple broken ribs, facial fractures and other serious injuries and initially spent time in the ICU before beginning rehabilitation, coverage from WSB-TV shows. The arc of his recovery, from intensive care to rehab and a return to walking on his own, was traced in further reporting by CBS Atlanta, which chronicled months of medical work and steady, incremental progress.
A GoFundMe set up to help the family cover medical bills and rebuilding costs pulled in six figures in its first months, and the Chaneys have repeatedly thanked first responders and neighbors for rallying around them in the chaos after the storm. That wave of support, including the fundraiser that raised six figures for the family, has been a through-line in local coverage of their ordeal.
Chaney has said in interviews that surviving the tornado has reshaped how he and his family think about priorities and gratitude, and that he has leaned heavily on faith, neighbors and medical staff throughout Malachi’s long recovery. Their appearance on The Marissa Mitchell Show also gave them a national platform to share a calmer, more reflective update on healing and rebuilding, a reminder of how quickly severe weather can upend everyday life, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
