For residents of Nashville and other parts of Tennessee, Tuesday wasn’t so super. In the early hours just after midnight, multiple tornadoes ripped across the area. Today, stunned residents are picking up the pieces . . . literally.
The Tennessee twisters shredded homes, businesses, churches, and schools. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged. The storms forced Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.
Sadly, many people didn’t have time to flee to safety. At least 24 people died. Others are still missing.
“The dogs started barking before the sirens went off. They knew what was coming,” says Paula Wade. “Then we heard the roar. . . . Something made me just sit straight up in bed, and something came through the window right above my head. If I hadn’t moved, I would’ve gotten a face full of glass.”
One twister sped across a 10-mile stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, shattering a bell tower and the stained glass of a historic church. Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a two-mile path in Putnam County. It wiped some homes from their foundations and dropped the wreckage far away.
At 12:30 a.m., Russell and Bethany Cooper were asleep. “The notification on my phone woke me,” says Bethany. “We got [our children] and got in our safe place.” The family stayed put for about 40 minutes while the storm raged.
When the wind subsided, the Coopers were unharmed, their home undamaged. But the tornadoes demolished Donelson Christian School, where Bethany teaches.
Roaring wind woke Evan and Carlie Peters in East Nashville. But the pair had no time to reach safety. “Within about 10 seconds, the house started shaking,” Carlie Peters says. “I jumped on top of the ground. He jumped on top of me. The ceiling landed on top of him. . . . We’re grateful to be alive.”
With more than a dozen Super Tuesday polling places damaged, voters sought other locations. Some had long lines; some had to extend voting hours.
After the storms, Nashville residents walked streets littered with debris. Houses were missing walls and roofs. Living rooms and kitchens sat exposed. Mangled power lines and broken trees came to rest on cars, streets, and piles of rubble.
Bethany Cooper isn’t sure how, when, or where Donelson Christian Academy will resume classes. She’s still overwhelmed and a bit numb. She knows God was in control of the storm and says, “I’m just so grateful no one was at school when it happened.”
(A wheeled trailer sits atop the remains of Donelson Christian Academy following a deadly tornado Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Brynna Spain)
