Updated Mar. 9, 2020 10:11 AM
Piles of debris remain scattered across Putnam County, Tennessee, about 80 miles east of Nashville. Homes lay demolished, roofs torn from the structures that were left standing after an EF4 tornado tore through the area during the early hours of Tuesday, March 3.
The National Weather Service (NWS) released a report on Friday detailing the March 2-3, 2020, tornadoes that spawned east of Nashville, Tennessee, while most families were sleeping.
On Friday, President Donald Trump visited Putnam County to survey the destruction and console a hurting community. Tennessee remains in state of emergency as emergency management attempts to mitigate the loss from the storms.
"You could look right inside that home like a doll house," AccuWeather's Bill Wadell said of one home, which had been picked up by the tornado and tossed to the side. Its roof had had been torn off and splintered in the nearby field.
The regional tornado outbreak erupted late March 2 into the early hours of March 3, spawning at least four tornadoes. The NWS has reported two EF0 tornadoes, an EF3 and the EF4.
The first EF0 tornado touched down in Buffalo Valley, Tennessee, tracking for less than 6 miles and damaging mostly roofs. It had estimated peak winds of 75 mph.
The second EF0 tornado touched down later in the morning in Goffton, Tennessee, just off of Highway 70. It trekked through the area for less than a quarter of a mile, damaging a few structures and breaking large branches from trees.
The EF3 tornado, with estimated peak winds of 165 mph, tore through 60 consecutive miles, according to the report, tracking through Davidson, Wilson and Smith counties. It claimed five lives and injured another 220 people.
The EF3 tornado tracked through 3 counties in Tennessee, resulting in 5 reported deaths and about 220 injuries. (Image/NWS)
The strongest of the four tornadoes began it's trek just northwest of Baxter, Tennessee, causing EF0 damage tracked for less than 3 miles before intensifying up to an EF2 just north of US 70 N Nashville Highway. It then strengthened, crossing roads and leaving severely damaged homes in its wake as an EF3 tornado.
Around McBroom Chapel Road, the tornado intensified into an EF4 twister, becoming "violent" and destroying over a dozen homes.
The two strong tornadoes are responsible for at least 24 fatalities, and an unspecified amount of people still remain missing, according to the Associated Press.
At least 18 of those fatalities were in Putnam County, including 5 children. The tornado had hit the county as an EF4 tornado with winds of up to 175 mph, leaving behind over 100 damaged structures in its wake.
This was the first violent tornado in the Nashville area in 11 years.
An EF4 tornado tore through Putnam County, Tennessee, killing at least 18 people, including children. (Image/NWS)
Families sifted through the rubble over the following days, looking for loved ones and anything left behind.
"We're just picking up little things we can find to hold onto," Rebecca Selby told AccuWeather's Bill Wadell.
Her husband, Brian Selby, had lost both of his parents to the tornado. Selby had found his mother Cathy minutes after the storm, and his father Keith hours later.
"I just can't wrap my mind around it," Brian Selby told AccuWeather. "I looked outside for a minute and I could just tell that mom and dad's was gone."
Homes in the area had been mangled by the tornado, leaving behind mountains of wood and debris for excavators to dig through. No part of Cathy and Keith's house was left standing.
The family found an old photo of the couple and Cathy's Bible among the rubble.
In the chaos of the destruction wrought by the tornado, a few things can be seen to have stubbornly clung to the ground: a washer and dryer, a refrigerator with a handful of determined magnets , the cover of a basement.
Putnam County resident Gary Bean credits his basement as the reason why he and his son survived the tornado.
"The living room was right here," he said, showing Wadell around the remains of his home. "And my bedroom was there."
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President Donald Trump speaks Mike Herrick, with Putnam County Rescue Squad, as he tours damage from a recent tornado, Friday, March 6, 2020, in Cookeville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A few things remain, like a dresser with all three mirrors still intact and unbroken. But the roof of the house had been torn off and many of the walls ripped away.
"We all would have been dead. There's no doubt in my mind. That basement saved my life," Bean said. When he had gotten the alert about the tornado on his phone, Bean and his son took shelter in the basement.
"First responders in this area we got are amazing actually. They did such a good job," Bean said.
Shock stunned Putnam County only for a moment before people like Traci and Mike Brown jumped into action in their neighborhood, Eller Plantation. A nurse and a firefighter, the two emerged from their shelter after the EF4 tornado shook their house and ran into the rain to find their neighbors.
"We saw Ray's house and it was completely gone. So we immediately went to search and rescue," Traci told AccuWeather.
The two set up a mobile command center at their house and started a medical triage.
"We were out here in the middle of it just doing anything we could, getting people inside," Mike told AccuWeather.
The couple brought a total of 27 people to their basement, treating their injuries and handing out dry clothes.
The neighborhood's landmark tree was toppled in the tornado. Now, its likeness appears in a marker drawing along with the words "We are strong together" written alongside it on one of the remaining walls.
"With all of the death and destruction that occurred in Putnam County, my neighborhood did not lose a person," Mike said. "Blessed, lucky? Yes, absolutely."
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In what could be surmised as stroke of luck, the tornado fell apart within 2 miles of the Cookeville Regional Medical Center.
"It's remarkable that the EF4 tornado rapidly dissipated just before reaching the Cookeville Regional Medical Center and downtown, avoiding a much larger tragedy," AccuWeather Meteorologist and Social Media Coordinator Jesse Ferrell said.
The NWS theorizes that the EF4 tornado fell apart due to an EF0 tornado possibly "stealing its juice."
"Generally speaking, it could have disrupted the flow of moisture and twisting winds feeding into the larger tornado," Ferrell said, though he also noted that some of the details of this case are still unknown, and it would take more research to determine of the NWS's theory is valid.
Additional reporting by Bill Wadell.
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