( CNN ) -- Call it maternal instinct . As the monster tornado approached , Terimy Miller put her three sons in a closet in their Moore , Oklahoma , house . But something did n't feel right . `` It was just that feeling , '' Miller told CNN 's Brooke Baldwin on Wednesday . `` I just got to get out of here . I 'm not chancing this . '' So she put her three boys -- ages 11 , 7 and 6 -- in the family car . She was moving so fast that she could n't round up the two family dogs , which were somewhere outside . Doctor 's quick thinking save patients . As they prepared their escape , she and son Jules heard a local weatherman on television advise families in Moore that if they did n't have a storm shelter , they should abandon the house . `` We got away from the storm , '' said son Jules , 7 . Confirmation of the mother 's intuition came when she and her boys returned to the house . Miller hyperventilated . She cried . Opinion : Helping kids recover and feel safe . The tornado had annihilated the home . `` We walk up and it 's gone , '' Miller said . `` I 'm like , no , this ca n't be happening . Why ? `` It 's a war zone , '' she said . Added her son : `` The thunderstorm took away all my favorite stuff . It 's gone . '' Families remember Oklahoma tornado victims . Miller lost the sentimental photos , yearbooks , and mementos from her days in the Navy . Her memories will now have to suffice , she said . As for the dogs , they survived , but one of them will lose his right eye , injured by the twister . Despite the material losses , Miller counts her blessings . `` We 're lucky : I have my children and everything will be OK , '' she said . The family will rebuild the home , she added . Storm-scattered mementos finding their homes via Facebook .
Terimy Miller puts her three small sons in the house just as the tornado nears . But she gets a feeling : ` ` I just got to get out of here . I ' m not like this . '' The mother takes her boys away from the home in Moore , Oklahoma . The home 's eventual obliteration proves she made the right decision .