Community rebuilding following Friday tornadoes
HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — On Friday night, two tornadoes swept Hardin County within a few hours of each other, causing most of the properties along the Tennessee River to be completely destroyed.
The town of Morris Chapel experienced a great loss in homes. There were no fatalities.
Derek Miller, a resident of McNairy County said, his parents’ home was damaged by the tornado as it passed through Rose Creek.
“My parents were here at home. My dad had just laid down and my mom was in a closet. Dad got up when the window started shattering. It took every tree in the front yard down, took the front carport down, took a bunch of stuff off the roof,” said Derek Miller, a McNairy County resident.
A total of nine people were killed due to the storms that swept through McNairy County. Four of those were living in the same home in Rose Creek.
SEE ALSO: Names released of West Tennesseans killed during storms
“I know they had just moved here from Florida. Two were already here and two had come here the day that the storms hit. They’d come from Florida to get away from hurricanes. Then this happened. I know it leveled the house with them in it, and all four of them were killed, tragically,” Miller said.
More than a 40 homes were destroyed in Hardin County, as well as along the Tennessee River
More than 72 homes were reported damaged in McNairy County. The community has come together and workers are giving their all to help those affected recover as quickly as possible.
SEE ALSO: West TN county officials confirm storm fatalities
“I’ve been doing it for a few years now and seeing the storm was pretty devastating, all the different things that we have seen, having to cut our way into people’s houses, and people being trapped and the lives that have been lost. You know, it’s been very tragic how much it’s been hit throughout the process,” said John Parker, a utility worker.
It may take weeks, even months, for the counties affected to fully recover. But they are not alone.
“Every hand possible that we can possibly bring in from Selmer to Jackson, Chickasaw, Bolivar. So we have a lot of hands on deck and it’s going to be a lot of cleanup. I’m pretty sure for quite a few days,” Parker said.
“It’s been very, very wonderful to see the blessing of our community come in and all the hands come together for this awful trying times,” said Nicholas Childress, the Water Operator for the Selmer Utility Division.
Crews ask that you stay off the roads and avoid site-seeing while they are trying to work.
SEE ALSO: GALLERY: Storm damage in McNairy, Hardin counties
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