Since the 1980s, several brothers from Ciudad Altamirano in the Mexican state of Guerrero picked oranges in Florida, harvested onions in Georgia and worked tobacco in North Carolina.

After they got green cards in the early 1990s, they decided to stop moving. They brought their families together, rented a group of single-wide mobile homes in Columbus County and took permanent jobs at construction sites, factories and a golf course.

The tornado struck just when the family, which now numbers more than 100, had started to come into its own. Last year, several members bought three new double-wide mobile homes just off N.C. 87. They named the private dirt road leading to their homes Martinez Way.

Maria Cruz Martinez lived in one with her partner, Eliseo Arellano, and their children, including her 13-year-old son, Miguel. Wednesday, her two grandsons, Danny and Jesse Martinez, also spent the night.

Maria's daughter, Zuleika Ruiz, lived a few steps away with her husband, Daniel Carachure.

Thursday morning, Ruiz, who went by Suly, stepped outside to take her 3-year-old daughter, Katie, to her mother's home next door. Ruiz had to leave for work at a Wilmington shipyard, and Katie had to catch the bus to a Head Start program in Whiteville.

Relatives say Ruiz, 23, was on her way into her mother's home when the tornado struck. Two of the three homes were reduced to rubble, killing Miguel and Danny. Ruiz and her daughter were thrown several yards into a nearby pond.

When the wind stopped, Carachure found Ruiz and resuscitated her, according to her cousin, Noe Martinez. She later died at the hospital. Katie was one of about dozen family members who were injured but survived.

Carmen Martinez, Ruiz's 16-year-old cousin, said she was still young at heart. The two often went shopping, and Ruiz bought matching earring and necklace sets in bright colors.

"She was like a sister to me," she said.

Miguel Martinez liked to kick a soccer ball around a net his grandfather had set up between their houses. The net is still standing.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.