I just received this email from my Uncle that was quite inspiring... I have an aunt that lives in Gallatin, TN, where on Friday there was an F3/F4 tornado that rolled through their neighborhood. I wanted to share it with everyone.
On the afternoon of Friday April 7th, a tornado came through Woodhaven subdivision west of Gallatin, Tennessee. This particular storm cell wreaked havoc from Paris, Tennessee to points east of Gallatin in Sumner County, and was the cause of twelve fatalities . . . seven in Woodhaven alone.
My sisters house sits in the apex of the intersection of Rodman Boulevard and Mimosa Drive, approximately three hundred yards from the entrance of Woodhaven subdivision
The attached pictures were taken from my sister and brother-in-laws driveway a few minutes after the storm freight-trained through. Like most pictures they can't do justice to the actual devastation.
Most of my immediate family, my mother, both my sisters, two of my nieces, my brother-in-laws mother, and a whole passel of cats made it to the basement, and weathered the tempest unscathed. Myself, my father, my brother-in-law and my nephews-in-law arrived about five minutes after the cataclysm bowled through. We had been about a mile away, and had watched as the tornado formed and moved toward Woodhaven.
My family was fortunate.
We see so much devastation and disaster on the evening news, from the comfort of our living room, that we become immune to it. We feel badly for the people involved, and then we click over to Jeopardy. . . . My family is going to feel a little differently now.
The same news outlets that have made us immune to the carnage of the world, have also led us to believe that there is little good left in the human spirit. For, apparently, that isn't news. I now beg to differ.
Literally, within an hour, with it raining, and the weather still extremely threatening, regular citizens from around the community were arriving to see what they could do to help. What makes this even more remarkable is that there was literally no access into Woodhaven from any direction except by foot, across country, about a half mile from Gallatin Pike. Emergency vehicles couldn't even get in for the first little while.
They carried with them whatever they thought the survivors might need. Individuals, church groups and tradesmen (that had been in the area) all came in and formed groups that went house to house seeing what aid they could render. By that evening we were seeing volunteer fire departments from as far as sixty miles away coming in to check the rubble, and ask what assistance we needed (thank you again Fairview VFD).
You will see a picture marked "neighbor". This lady lives down the street from my sister and brother-in-law. She came up about forty-five minutes after the storm roared through to check on my sister. When my sister asked if she had any damage she stated that, "I lost most of the roof to the rafters, and all of my windows and doors, but I'm fine. What can I do do to help, y'all." You will also see Mrs. Peeler in these pictures. Mrs. Peeler is about five feet tall, and in her early eighties. Mrs. Peeler was in her basement, alone, when the first two floors of her home blew away. Mrs. Peeler spent the afternoon cheering everyone up, and saying that she was lucky to be home alone because she didn't have to worry about her husband and grown sons for they for out of dangers path. We meet a lot of "Mrs. Peeler's" throughout life, they are the one's that are always there to give us a kind word when we are distressed. In the back of our minds we wonder if they are always upbeat, even when their lives are in crisis. I now know that they are.
I spend a lot of time worrying about the human race in general, and the citizens of this country in particular. We have a lot of things happen in our lives, and have our psyches screwed by the national media. I'm finding it very hard to see the good in people any more. This event as tragic and costly as it has been has helped me tremendously.
See, the reason we were all in Gallatin was for the wedding of my oldest niece. You'll see her in the window of her childhood bedroom. Anyone that knows her knows some of the things she's seen in her short life. You can see from the photo that she was shaken but not stirred. I think that should be the new motto for the city of Gallatin.
Mr. & Mrs. William Newton Goff III left for the Bahamas on Saturday afternoon.
At least one hundred friends, family members, and citizens of Gallatin Tennessee made sure of that. Not once did anyone, including her mother and father let her think she wasn't getting married.
Dave
I was there the day after to attend my cousin's wedding, and even though there was debris in the streets in front of the church, and the power was out at the reception, amazingly everything went off without a hitch. After the bride and groom left we all went over to the neighborhood with our ladders and shovels and chainsaws to help clean up and salvage what we could. As my uncle Dave said, the pictures simply don't do the devastation justice. It makes you think... These things happen to normal people, people like you and me, every day... and we never gave it a second thought after the "Oh, that's terrible." But people who are caught up in the middle of it all don't have the option to change the channel. It certainly gives a new perspective on a lot of things for me.
Across street from CB house
Carolyn & Bruce's house
The Goatmobile
Lynn Webb the bride
Mrs. Peeler
Neighbor
North from CB's Driveway
Peeler Home (or half of what's left)
It's amazing to think that I came within 150 feet of losing half of the people I feel the most strongly about. All's I can say is: Wow.
- Dan-0
